What does Davidson mean when he says that “rationalization is a species of causal explanations...?
(“Actions, Reasons, and Causes”, 3)? How should we
take this claim in the light of the examples of causal deviance he produced in
“Freedom to Act”, the conclusions he drew from them, and his claims about
the irreducibility of the mental?
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I can only answer what the bold questions asks. After my answer, you'll have to figure out the rest.
A causal explanation is simply an epistemological method of describing cause and effect. Some are rational, some are rationalizations, such as when a man says, "If you had my wife, you'd be an alcoholic, too,", the reality is that he is now divorced but still drinks heavily. Actually, its a rationalization even if he's still married, because his wife didn't put the bottle to his lips.