What is rational is actual, and what is actual is rational?

As I was reading the essay on the word “reason”, I came upon the phrase “what is rational is actual, and what is actual is rational” by Georg Hegel, and I was immediately perplexed at what the statement actually meant. That statement stuck with me the whole day just like an annoying commercial song. As I contemplate on what the phrase meant, I was also browsing eBay on shoes and then it finally clicked.

The statement that actions that appear to be “irrational” are “rational” because it actually happened, although confusing and counter-intuitive, is actually true. Rationality is based on relativity, and what an action a person deems is rational is relative to that person’s beliefs, morals, and culture.

Take for example my post about lining up the night before for Air Jordans. Some may say that lining up for a pair of shoes is “irrational”, but apparently it is “rational” if people are willing to do it. What some people fail to realize is that rationalization and relativism are correlated with each other, and that an action that is perceived to be “irrational” or “rational” is only based on how they perceive it to be and that perception is different for different people. To sneaker aficionados, lining up for limited-edition sneakers is completely rational, whereas others may feel is irrational, and that is fine.

As with anything, there are problems with the belief that what is actual is rational. Some may use it as an excuse in inexcusable circumstances such as murder, stealing, adultery, and other heinous crimes. I often see interviews of murders and prisoners in documentaries where they have no remorse for what they have done because they truly believe that they did nothing wrong, and that is where I believe the statement does not apply. In these instances, prisoners are merely manipulating the statement as a cop out.

As a whole, I truly believe in the idea that “what is rational is actual".