Evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of Reason as a Way of Knowing
Theory of knowledge | EVALUATE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF REASON AS A WAY OF KNOWING | Word Count: 1,584 |
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Reason is a priori. All humans are born with it. It is a way of knowing as it is used in every area of knowledge and in collaboration with the other ways of knowing. Unlike the implication of the prescribed essay topic, reason is not a distinctive way of knowing. To say that is an oversimplification of the complexity of knowing. Knowledge can only be obtained through the inextricably linked ways of knowing.
Reason comes to us naturally. For example, we purposely choose to recall past experiences to apply it to new and similar experiences. Most people value reason over the other ways of knowing. For example, North Americans have the “be reasonable” and “think before you act” idioms, and the Chinese have the “do not use emotions to act” idiom. Whenever I get angry or sad, those around me would remind me of those sayings. As can be inferred from the Chinese saying, emotion as a way of knowing is interpreted, at least by the Chinese, as the most unreliable. Globally, emotion is largely seen as the opposite of reason.
The importance of reason changes per person, depending on academic background, philosophical traditions, culture, gender, age and etcetera. However, this investigation will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing in art and natural science, and compare it with emotion.
In art, reason is a definite weakness. With art and literature, you use imagination and creativity. Maybe a bit of reason is used to choose which colour to use, but it does not allow us to understand beauty, intrigue and mystery, which are fundamental to our existence. The rich experience of art is lost. Without such things, progress would probably not occur, and the current human race might still be in pre-stone age times. Art cannot be understood with reason. “Artistic expression, when effective, often bypasses the human reason and
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Reason is a priori. All humans are born with it. It is a way of knowing as it is used in every area of knowledge and in collaboration with the other ways of knowing. Unlike the implication of the prescribed essay topic, reason is not a distinctive way of knowing. To say that is an oversimplification of the complexity of knowing. Knowledge can only be obtained through the inextricably linked ways of knowing.
Reason comes to us naturally. For example, we purposely choose to recall past experiences to apply it to new and similar experiences. Most people value reason over the other ways of knowing. For example, North Americans have the “be reasonable” and “think before you act” idioms, and the Chinese have the “do not use emotions to act” idiom. Whenever I get angry or sad, those around me would remind me of those sayings. As can be inferred from the Chinese saying, emotion as a way of knowing is interpreted, at least by the Chinese, as the most unreliable. Globally, emotion is largely seen as the opposite of reason.
The importance of reason changes per person, depending on academic background, philosophical traditions, culture, gender, age and etcetera. However, this investigation will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing in art and natural science, and compare it with emotion.
In art, reason is a definite weakness. With art and literature, you use imagination and creativity. Maybe a bit of reason is used to choose which colour to use, but it does not allow us to understand beauty, intrigue and mystery, which are fundamental to our existence. The rich experience of art is lost. Without such things, progress would probably not occur, and the current human race might still be in pre-stone age times. Art cannot be understood with reason. “Artistic expression, when effective, often bypasses the human reason and
Cited: Edwords, Frederick, “Humanism, Reason and the Arts,” Frederick Edwords, http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/fred_edwords/humart.html -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Frederick Edwords, “Humanism, Reason, and the Arts,” Frederick Edwords, http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/fred_edwords/humart.html (accessed February 24, 2009).