Without it, he says, man is just "a rational animal that comes from nowhere and doesn't go anywhere".

So a rational animal is as nearly impossible as any creature can be.

Think back to Descartes' theory that man is a "rational animal."

Man is a rational animal - so at least I have been told.

Why else go to the trouble of being a rational animal?

Man is not a rational animal, no matter what he chooses to call himself.

I wonder who it was defined man as a rational animal.

Why call him a rational animal when other animals are equally reasonable?

They simply do not bother to act otherwise than as rational animals.

They tried to make me into a highly intelligent rational animal and nothing more.