Abstract

The thematic dealt with in the treatise is the possible of the library and librarianship. The rationality appears in a philosophical perspective as a normative notion. The treatise particularly investigates the possible intelligibility of a literary rationality of the library and librarianship with a foundation in what literature has produced, which divides into the bibliographic rationality of the library about scriptum est and the educational rationality or the library on behalf of scriptum est. The point of departure is that how we can conceive of the rationality of the library and librarianship depends on what we can conceive of as rational more widely in our cultural, social, and political being. The foundations of intelligibility of the literary, bibliographical, and educational rationality of the library and librarianship consists of the Gadamerian and Ricoeurean hermeneutics the republicanist and even Hegelian view of the state, as opposed to liberalism within political theory and philosophy, and what is called agnostic republicanism as the result of emphasizing some liberal ideals. Gadamerian hermeneutics and republicanism relate mainly to the educational rationality of the library on behalf of scriptum est and for the state while the Ricoeurean hermeneutics and agnostic republicanism relate to the bibliographic rationality of the library about scriptum est. Further, the notion of explication should reconcile the tension between the Gadamerian criticism of historical objectivism and the bibliographic rationality about scriptum est and politico-ethical reasoning should indicate actual reasons to mind about past realities or and around scriptum est. The overall result of reasoning is as follows. The primary rationality should be the rationality about scriptum est, which would be open towards many other specified rationalities among which the educational rationality on behalf of scriptum est would be particularly plausible.