The rational actor theory model consists of concepts which are presented as equal and necessarily interdependent. These concepts are also understood as the cause and the expression of the actor's autonomy. It is surprising that, despite all the developments in social sciences, human action continues to be constructed and interpreted from a perspective in which conscience, rationality, strategy, interest and intention constitute an atomic-like theoretical structure. An in-depth look at this structure, in fact, reveals that these five core concepts are of different semantic levels as well as not necessarily linked theoretically. Through this exercise, we discover that the model does not distinguish between principial and analytical categories. We also realize that while some of these concepts or categories are necessarily correlated, others are not and that the model's heuristic value, therefore, needs to be addressed; a series of indicators are suggested, which may allow for such a verification.