What is reason?

Question: What is reason!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Reason is a subjective faculty, or rather the unaided ability to form concepts, using knowledge you gain from experience, with nothing a proire!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

According to the Encarta dictionary in MS Word reason is:
Justification
Motive
Cause that explains something
Power of orderly thought
Ability to think clearly
Intellect as basis for knowledgeWww@QuestionHome@Com

Reason in the area of philosophy would be more of a making of a logic and rational argument!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

True reason is what you haven't thought about then and now or not yet!. Reason is not a logical issue!. Human Reason develops itself by emotional experiences!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

its aterribly short question but the answer cannot be just as short!. reason in the strict sense is logic!. but it can be used in an emotive sense!. for example people can say that you are unreasonable!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In western philosophy, reason has had a twofold history!. On the one hand, it has been taken to be objective and so to be fixed and discoverable by dialectic, analysis or study!. Such objectivity is the case in the thinking of Plato, Aristotle, Alfarabi, Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, Aquinas and Hegel!. In the vision of these thinkers, reason is divine or at least has divine attributes!. Such an approach compelled religious philosophers--Aquinas, for example, Gilson more recently--to square reason with revelation, no easy task!.

On the other hand, since the seventeenth century rationalists, reason has been taken to be a subjective faculty, or rather the unaided ability (eg!., pure reason) to form concepts!. For Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, the effort resulted in significant developments in mathematics!. For Kant, in contrast, pure reason was shown to have the ability to form concepts (time and space) that are the conditions of experience!. Kant made his argument in opposition to Hume, who denied that reason had any role to play in experience!.

Discussion about reason especially concerns:

* (a) its relationship to several other related concepts: language, logic, consciousness etc,
* (b) its ability to help people decide what is true, and
* (c) its origin!.

also see practical reason and speculative reason!.

The concept of reason is connected to the concept of language, as reflected in the meanings of the Greek word "logos", later to be translated by Latin "ratio" and then French "raison", from which the English word derived!. As reason, rationality, and logic are all associated with the ability of the human mind to predict effects as based upon presumed causes, the word "reason" also denotes a ground or basis for a particular argument, and hence is used synonymously with the word "cause"!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/ReasonWww@QuestionHome@Com

Reason is the faculty of the human mind that enables one to deduce conclusions from their judgments derived through their many sense experiences of the world!.

From my many sense experiences of the world I have seen people struggle with the pain of some various types of emotions (anger, jealousy, envy, etc!.)!. I judge that "People experience emotions" is evident!. I also know from experience of myself and others that some emotions (like the ones listed above are painful and irritating)!. I judge again that "some emotions are painful and irritating" based upon my many experiences!.

Now I have two judgments:

People feel emotions
But some emotions are painful
So, some people feel pain!.

Now, obviously this isn't a "whopper" argument!. There is nothing special or profound about it!. I'm merely showing you that reason enables us to reach conclusions from our judgments!. The conclusion was "at least some people feel pain"!. If someone were to ask me "How do you know that!?" I would give my reasons: Because, people feel emotions, and some emotions are painful!. I would have at least some reason to believe that people felt pain!. Now, here is the cool thing about reason!. Now that we have reached a conclusion we have a new judgment: "Some people feel pain"!. Hmm, what are some things I know about pain!? Well, from experience I know that pain is burdensome!.

"To have pain is to have a burden"
"Some people have pain" (because, people feel emotions and some emotions are painful)
"Therefore, some people are have a burden"!.

Well, burdens by nature weaken and oppress us!. Now, for arguments sake let's grant the classic Christian notion of "Sin"!. All people are sinners or have sin, and sin is a burden according to Christianity!.

So, All people are those who have sin
All those who have sin are those who have a burden
All those who have a burden are those who are weakened and oppressed!. Therefore, All people are weakened and oppressed (to some degree)!. Now, we can start arguing for other things!. For example, can anyone be completely happy who is also at the same time weak and oppressed!? Let's say the answer was "No, they cannot"!. We could finally come to a conclusion that says that no person is one who is completely happy!. We could actually know that about the world!. Pretty cool in my opinion!. Again, these are just examples and some of the premises would need additional arguments instead of just "granting their truth"!. Hope this helps!.Www@QuestionHome@Com