rational

rational, reasonable may be applied to men, their acts, utterances, or policies in the senses of having or manifesting the power to reason, or of being in accordance with what reason dictates as right, wise, or sensible.

Rational usually implies a latent or active power to make inferences from the facts and to draw from such inferences conclusions that enable one to understand the world about him and to relate such knowledge to the attainment of personal and common ends; often, in this use, rational is opposed to emotional or animal

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we are rational; but we are animal too— Cowper

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the rational, the intelligent, the orderly processes of behavior— Mumford

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to cure this habit of mind, it is necessary ... to replace fear by rational prevision of misfortune— Russell

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When the term is applied to policies, projects, systems, or to something conceived or formulated, rational is preferred when justification on grounds that are satisfactory to the reason is specifically implied

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the advantages of a rational orthography—G randgent

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let's just entertain the notion as a rational hypothesis which may or may not be true— Mailer

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Reasonable usually carries a much weaker implication than rational of the power to reason in general, or of guidance by conclusions drawn by the reasoning powers; typically it applies to actions, decisions, choices, or proposals that avoid obvious mistakes and that are practical, sensible, just, or fair

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if that belief, whether right or wrong, may be held by a reasonable man, it seems to me that it may be enforced by law— Justice Holmes

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asking me some reasonable if openly ignorant questions about the nature of the bullfight— Mailer

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the formation of reasonable habits, of method, of punctuality . . . makes enormously for the happiness and convenience of every one about us— Benson

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Antonyms: irrational: animal (of nature): demented (of state of mind): absurd (of actions, behavior)