Is there a difference between rationality and instrumentality?
I heard somewhere, that instrumentality asks, how we should attain our goals, while rationality asks, why we should attain them. But, if we have a goal, say, going home as fast as possible, then the fastest path would also be the most rational decision. Is every rational agent also instrumentally thinking?
Here is a relevant link and quote contrasting instrumental reason with substantial reason. As you say, practical efficiency can be simply instrumental. The moral qualities of reasoning require a higher order.
Max Horkheimer’s Critique of Instrumental Reason and the Domination of Nature
The capitalist system can be seen to have a directly proportionate relationship with instrumental reason. Horkheimer goes beyond this comparison to suggest that the gradual reification – the mastery of nature – has its end in Fascism, however liberal democracy and capitalism were very much the target of the Frankfurt School. The capitalist agent looks to commodify the world toward his/her own ends, primarily the individualistic pursuit of self-preservation. Instrumental reason is the greatest tool in this process. In any case, substantial reason, which guides moral judgements and values, a veritable looking glass into reality and the truth of the world, has in today’s capitalist society become obsolete.
