- Nevertheless it is, as its form and intent, quasirational or protorational.
Quasirational
noun; compounding
Almost, but not quite, rational; resembling something rational. Guy Claxton uses the word quasirational here to show that the idea is close to, but not quite, a rational one – implying that with some work, further thought, and revision, it can be made into a truly rational (would he say eurational ?) idea. The compounding flows naturally, with both quasi- and rational having origins in Latin.
Etymology : quasi + rational. Quasi-, from Latin quasi ‘as if,’ from quam ‘as much as’ + si ‘if.’ Rational, from Latin rationalis ‘of or belonging to reason, reasonable,’ from ratio ‘reckoning, calculation, reason,’ from rat-, past participle stem of reri ‘to reckon, calculate, think,’ from PIE *rei- ‘to reason, count’
Source : Guy Claxton’s Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind, p7
Last modified: 10 June 2008