Idea Log 21042011

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Francisco de Goya

The faculty of reason, rationality, or the faculty of discursive reason (in opposition to "intuitive reason") is a mental ability found in human beings and normally considered to be a definitive characteristic of human nature. It is closely associated with such human activities as language, science, art, mathematics and philosophy.

Reason, like habit or intuition, is a means by which thinking comes from one idea to a related idea. But more specifically, it is the way rational beings propose and consider explanations concerning cause and effect, true and false, and what is good or bad. In contrast to reason as an abstract noun, a reason is a consideration which explains or justifies some event, phenomenon or behaviour. The ways in which human beings reason through an argument are the subject of inquiries in the field of logic.

Reason is closely identified with the ability to self-consciously change beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and institutions, and therefore with the capacity for freedom and self-determination.

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He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot reason is a fool, and he who does not reason is a slave.

- Henry Louis Vivian Derezio was a 19th century teacher and poet.

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"I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."

- Ayn Rand, Russian-American 20th century novelist and philosopher.