ipl-logo

The Importance Of Reason In The Pursuit Of Knowledge

1378 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of ethical decision making

Reason plays a very important role throughout the lives of humans; reason is very heavily involved in humans discovering new knowledge. Humans always have a reason for carrying out an action or behaving in a particular way by rationalizing the cause and effect of it. Reason is defined as to consciously understand everything using logic in many different areas of knowledge, it is to explain and justify a certain action (Dictionary.com). People use reason to create or deduce if a knowledge claim is true or false. Reason is also used to change or rationalize habits, institutions and thinking, all which relies on supporting evidences (Academic Room). Throughout history, people have used more than just reason to discover new knowledge, and therefore we cannot trust only reason alone in pursuit …show more content…

This essay would further discuss and explain the rationale to why we cannot trust reason in the pursuit of knowledge especially in two areas of knowledge, which are natural sciences and ethics.

There are two general types of reasoning; they are deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is where its conclusion, normally believed to be absolutely true, is logically derived from a particular group of evidences within the system (Dictionary.com). Inductive reasoning is where its conclusion, which has a possibility of being true, is logically derived from a set of observations that are found true most of the time (WhatIs.com).

Reason plays a very vital and important role in the area of natural sciences. Knowledge claims made in natural sciences compared to other areas since they have solid evidence to back the knowledge claims made. The sciences use both deductive and inductive reasoning though they use more of inductive reasoning, where knowledge claims made are based on repetitive past observations. The scientific method requires one to have a set of observations, using inductive reasoning to

Show More
Related
581 Words | 3 Pages

Scientific research is methodical. Created from a desire to make the unknown known, the “scientific method” was created in the 15th century based on common sense. As Barry analysis the scientific process, he says that the unknown must be made into a tool, even against one’s own ideas and beliefs. However, that concept is tenuous, so Barry uses logical situations to present the idea.

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

In conclusion, the characteristics of the scientific method are far from few. Most distinctly, science deals with the uncertainty of the unknown, attempting to make it known. Though complicated, Barry explains his beliefs on the scientific method with strong diction to show the formality of science, rhetorical questions to show the uncertainty, and logos to show the intellect of science. His rhetorical strategies help the audience understand the plethora of characteristics in the realm of

Read More
415 Words | 2 Pages

In the Age of Reason, also known as the Enlightenment period, times were changing. Originally, people’s perception of life was based on religion. Religion had answers to things such as why you were sick, or why you were poor. This time occurred in the 17th century when certain scientist, philosophers, and writers decided that there were other reasons besides religion on why things happened. Many believed that all life could be explained by scientific views rather than religion.

Read More
847 Words | 4 Pages

In Al Gore’s “The Assault on Reason,” many topics are presented to get his argument across. Gore’s thesis is not fully revealed in the essay, but one can infer it is about the people needing to wake up and realize what is happening. He wants people to ask questions, get reasoning, be a fully informed citizen. For example, Gore states "More and more people are trying to figure out what has gone wrong with our democracy, and how we can fix it." (Gore 9)

Read More
1680 Words | 7 Pages

Humans are unlike any other creature on this planet, as we are able to think and reason. These two abilities have created the most powerful minds ever known such as, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Plato. These abilities have also lead to some powerful arguments one of such being our beliefs. Some philosophers believe that all beliefs must be justified, while others believe that only some of our beliefs must be justified. W.K. Clifford argues that it is morally wrong to act or believe without sufficient evidence.

Read More
1170 Words | 5 Pages

Unlike human will, human reason is free and has no innate morality. Human reason is persuaded by the external world and is influenced by other people’s thoughts and actions. In other words, the reasoning of one person can rub off onto other people, sending a ripple of ideas out into society. It is the element in which humans control and use to handle their thoughts and actions. Through human reason, people become imperfect and in short, human.

Read More
1788 Words | 8 Pages

Health care has witnessed a significant shift from a reactive practice (treatment) to that of proactive (prevention) in efforts to improve societal health. With this change, it has opened the door for communities to become active change agents by investigating disparities that impede the rights of the people to achieve and maintain their optimal level of health. To that end, community health cannot be improved unless civic leaders and public health professionals gain insight into the needs of the people. Important to note, not all needs are the same, they often differ by age, race, ethnicity, as well as socioeconomic position. For this reason, it’s important first to identify your target audience followed by the development of a survey.

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

Our rationality and reason give us the ability to distinguish between good and bad, just and unjust, and to assess whether or not we are good people. It also gives us the capability to understand and perform higher intellectual activities. The three alternatives can also be said to be split into 2 categories, the rational part of the soul and the non-rational part of the soul. The life of growth and perception falls

Read More
1076 Words | 5 Pages

People of this time were beginning to distrust many myths and traditions that were based on speculation rather than observation. They were beginning to understand that seeing something yourself overpowered what anyone else could assume. Philosopher, John Locke, discusses in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding that experience and observation is the key to building knowledge and the best way to improve mankind and society is by obtaining as much knowledge as possible (source 1). All knowledge was considered valuable and all ideas can connect and form value. As d’Ambert expresses in document 6, “the discovery of the compass is no less advantageous to the human race than the explanation of the compass needle is to physics.”

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

The human mind’s ability and innate desire to justify and explain the world and its phenomena has led to some of the most significant and world-altering discoveries and inventions, illustrated throughout the renaissance, enlightenment, scientific revolution, and industrial revolution. Logical pursuits comprise a significant capstone of human nature and progress. However, according to Rudolf Otto in The Idea of the Holy, these tendencies have created different dimensions of religion; the rational and non-rational, with the latter often times overlooked. The most significant difference between the rational and non-rational aspects of religion deal with their respective emphasis on reason and feeling. Rudolph Otto prioritizes the non-rational as offering a truer understanding of religion because he claims the core of all religious life revolves around experiences and feeling, not simply rational thought.

Read More
1082 Words | 5 Pages

Methods of Rationalism by Plato and Descartes Philosophy has had an impact on mankind for thousands of years. This topic attempts to answer questions about the everyday world, and how things are the way they are. In Philosophy, there are many different topics that are discussed. These topics include Epistemology, Ontology, Ethics, Political and Social Philosophy, Aesthetics, Logic, and more. The topic that will be discussed in this paper is Epistemology, or the study of knowledge.

Read More
969 Words | 4 Pages

Philosophical thinking uses three acts of the mind: understanding, judgement, and reason. In order to have a sound argument all of the concepts must be applied. Socrates didn’t want to please the people by saying or doing what they wanted him to say or do. Socrates thought it was not important to seek wealth or fame; he was concerned with truth and virtue. He wanted to create an impact on humanity by relying on the truth and shining a light in people’s lives, even if they put him on trial.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

In mathematics the knowledge we obtain is justified with reason that have straightforward theories and laws. In natural science on the other hand the information we collect is firstly obtained with observations which can be perceived in the wrong manner and then carried out wrong after that, in the natural world things are always changing therefore the results we get now won’t necessarily be correct one hundred years down the line therefore the knowledge we have now of the natural sciences is correct until proven wrong. Knowledge is trustworthy in most of our subjects at school but we can never know if the information we are receiving is 100% accurate or not because in the future we may learn that the information we have is

Read More
1448 Words | 6 Pages

For hundreds of years philosophers have assigned knowledge the supreme role and have called knowledge the ultimate purpose and meaning of human life. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher said “theoretical wisdom, that is, knowledge of the first principles and of what follows from them, is by nature our purpose and is the ultimate thing for the sake of which we have come to be. This is the highest form of knowledge since it is knowledge with grounding of the highest things. Through this kind of knowledge one not only knows what follows from the first principles, but also possesses truth about the first principles.” Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy.

Read More
994 Words | 4 Pages

(Dare to know!) as the motto of the Enlightenment, ended up criticizing the Enlightenment confidence on the power of reason.

Read More

More about The Importance Of Reason In The Pursuit Of Knowledge

Related Topics

Open Document