Epistemic Reconstruction and the Timing of Rational Competence

This paper develops a first-principles conceptual framework for understanding rational competence as a developmental and epistemic phenomenon rather than a fixed indicator of intelligence. It distinguishes cognitive capacity from epistemic competence and introduces late-onset epistemic reconstruction as a distinct trajectory through which rational norms may be deliberately acquired after their earlier absence. The analysis explains how apparent intelligence gaps can arise from representational mismatch and evaluative bias, and why such gaps often dissolve under interpretive reconstruction.