1. Introduction
Western philosophy has long been preoccupied with justifying the manner in which one should lead one’s life. In order to do this, they have logically often recurred to reason in order to explain why they believe that this particular way is the manner in which one should lead one’s life. Therefore, reason has played a central role in developing ethical theories almost since the inception of philosophy. Nevertheless, different authors have offered varied accounts of what reason means to them. Two of the most important of these thinkers were Aristotle and Kant, who understood this to be a central aspect of their ethical systems in different ways.
I believe that reason ought to be very important, yet the complexity of ethical decisions implies that it is not completely applicable to these types of decisions unless one simplifies them. However, it would be impossible to completely reject reason when attempting to establish an ethical system. Even though there are other factors at play, especially societal norms, reason is a process that one cannot disregard when taking ethical decisions.
2. Defining Reason
Even though many believe that reason is something positive and desirable, there are many different interpretations of what this word means. Many, including Aristotle, have directly linked it to humans, stating that it is a part of their essence, including it being what separates them from the rest of the animal kingdom. Those that are deemed unreasonable are usually segregated from society, placing them in special locations, such as prisons and mental hospitals.
There are many different ways to define reason, but it is often related to the use of logic and the process that allows people to make sense of the world. Usually, it is very closely linked to logic, especially the symbolic, propositional one that Aristotle inaugurated. Many people understand reason to be the capacity or possibility to make these types of links using this logic. Another type of link that is also related to reason is the ability to make sense of different stimuli or premises. Reason allows humans to make sense of their world, which would be just a baffling potluck of stimuli otherwise. People are expect to mediate their interactions with reality through reason, reacting to their internal and external motivations in a realistic and thought-out way.
Likewise, another important aspect that one can infer from these aspects is that reason is usually objective or universal. Reason allows for the communication and transmission of knowledge given that both people at the ends are intelligent and capable of understanding both the sense and the logic that underlies the connections that have been made. Being able to communicate and justifying something in a way that everyone would understand, becomes especially useful when it comes to justifying a person’s actions.
3. Role of Reason in Ethics
It is then obvious that reason plays a central role in ethics, if only to allow the transmission of the justification of one’s acts to have validity. Without going too deeply into the complicated subject of what ethics precisely is, an ethical system must, at least, attempt to give reasons as to why one should act the way it proposes. All ethical theories attempt to give reasons as to one should act a certain way because they need to be general in order to account for the numerous varied situations that make up the human experience. At every moment of the day, one is face with myriad decisions, and an ethical system should aim to be able to give a recommendation in all of them. The transmission of this generalization is facilitated by the use of reason, as it allows everybody to understand the actions that they should do and their justification.
Furthermore, it is important to note that philosophy has always heralded reason as a sort of salvation, and ethics is studied within philosophy. One can see this from the beginning of the discipline, as Socrates states in Crito, “We must therefore examine whether we should do this or not, because as always, and not just now for the first time, I am the sort of person who is persuaded in my soul by nothing other than the argument which seems best to me upon reflection” (Plato 3). As one can see, even the father of Western philosophy attempted to lead his life according to reason.
Therefore, one can see how reason plays a central role in ethics, as it is the tool that allows people to act ethically. Philosophers appeal to reason in an attempt to have it domesticate that which leads men and women into wrongdoing. To take a somewhat basic, everyday example, reason is what allows somebody to not harm their boss even though they may be very angry at them due to an adverse work decision. They may try to refrain themselves from acting against these impulses by thinking more logically about their actions, and trying to restrain themselves from letting these darker impulses have their way.
4. Philosophers on Reason
Even though reason is very important for philosophers, different ethical theories have varying stances on the role that reason plays with respect to what constitutes having a fulfilling life. Some, like Aristotle, believe that it is important, yet not central to determining how somebody should act. On the other hand, philosophers such as Immanuel Kant believe that one should always behave in accordance with reason. It is thus important to analyze these differing viewpoints in order to better define one’s own position on the place that reason should take in ethics.
4.1 Aristotle
Aristotle was one of the first philosophers to establish an ethical system, which he did in his great treatise Nichomachean Ethics. In it, he states that one should attempt to optimize everything that one can do as a human, yet that this should be framed around reason. “The predominant Aristotelian conception of the good life, then, involves the harmonious flourishing of all our human capacities, under the broad guidance of reason” (Cottingham 40). As one can see, he does not make reason the end of every ethical decision, which is actually the development of one’s abilities. Nevertheless, he does emphasize that this should be done in accordance to reason, harmoniously.
He believes that people should tune their beings with regards to virtue, not reason. He states that “human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete” (Aristotle 11). Reason would just be one virtue among others, even though it is a very important one. All throughout his books, one can read how he exalts this virtue to an important role.
However, it is important to note that he does not believe it to be omnipotent, nor what should guide men and women. For example, he does not find it to be useful for establishing how much one may stray from the norm in order to be unvirtuous. “But up to what point and to what extent a man must deviate before he becomes blameworthy it is not easy to determine by reasoning, any more than anything else that is perceived by the senses; such things depend on particular facts, and the decision rests with perception” (Aristotle 33). Therefore, even though he believes that reason is important, and something that should be cultivated, he only finds it to be the virtue that sets the framework for the rest.
4.2 Kant
On the other hand, Immanuel Kant attempts to install reason over everything else. He believes that it should reign because it is what is essential to men. As other animals do not have this faculty, Kant believes that men and women are the only ones that enter the moral conversation. He gives them a very important place in his moral theory, believing that humans should always be an end, not a means, virtually by virtue of possessing reason.
Kant ends his first section of Fundamental Principals of the Metaphysic of Morals by stating that it is essential to analyze human reason. This German philosopher asserts that “when practical reason cultivates itself, there insensibly arises in it a dialetic which forces it to seek aid in philosophy, just as happens to it in its theoretic use; and in this case, therefore, as well as in the other, it will find rest nowhere but in a thorough critical examination of our reason” (Kant 10). He believes that in order to establish a proper ethics, it is indispensable to thoroughly study reason.
He finds this to be so important that he attempts to establish a law that conditions the will, not the other way around. For Kant, reason should govern people above everything else, as this would lead the law to be qualified as good apart from every other consideration. He thus finds a very objective, universalizing principle in which to base his ethics, the famous categorical imperative: “I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law” (Kant 9). He finds personal motivations to be completely irrelevant in establishing an ethics, believing that this law should go above personal motivations.
This is not to say that he finds subjective incentive to be something to be completely discarded. Nevertheless, he does believe that it should be framed within this maxim of reason. Therefore, a person can choose how to live his or her life in whatever way he or she deems fit, yet always respecting the categorical imperative.
5. Own Stance
In my point of view, reason should be taken into account, yet it is not the most important way to determine how one should lead one’s life. I find this to be a very sterile way to approach living, and it would deprive men and women of many pleasures. I think that it is important for emotions and love to guide the way, yet have reason serve only as a framework. One should never completely stray from reason, yet sometimes this is inevitable, and this is a part of the human experience than one cannot disregard.
Ethical systems attempt to establish themselves as necessary due to unreasonable motivations that men and women may have. If everybody were completely reasonable, there would be no need for people to establish ethical system, as people would always act in a certain specific way. There are many ways to conceptualize that which escapes the bonds of ethical conduct, yet the mere fact that one has to recur to an ethical system in order to control it means that there is something in humans that compels them to not act correctly at times. This is usually thought of as feelings, emotions, demons, the unconscious, etc., yet they all have in common that they are seen as irrational and outside the bonds of reason and ethics. Nevertheless, this is not necessarily true, and I believe that it would be more profitable if people took their caring feelings into account and railed them within reason.
6. Impossibility of Ethics Not Centered on Reason
While it is true that some ethical systems herald these less rational parts of the human experience as being what should be followed in order to achieve happiness and fulfilment, they still offer reasons as to why this is the correct path. Even though this will be discussed further, one could give the example of care ethics, a virtue system that exalts the feelings of love and care, yet still justifies their importance through reason. Therefore, even though an ethical theory may dismiss reason as being objective and cold, it will still use it to justify why it should be denigrated.
Furthermore, because of philosophical tradition, it is important for ethics to place reason as its center in order to position themselves with regards to it. An ethics not based on reason would be impossible because the philosopher would still have to justify why they are promoting these actions. Therefore, reason would come back into the conversation, both because it allows people to justify their thoughts, and because it permits them to make sense out of them.
7. Role of Intuition and Societal Norms
Nevertheless, it is important to note that reason is not the only factor at play when one attempts to take an ethical decision. It is also important to take into account other aspects, such as societal norms. In fact, one could think of ethics as being born in a certain society that privileges reason. Not all cultures are like this, and this is probably the reason why it started out in Western philosophy. Here, irrational aspects of the human experience, such as intuition, are to be shunned, not celebrated. On the other hand, in other societies, the irrational aspects of people are often exalted.
8. Conclusion
In conclusion, reason is the center of ethical systems that come from Western Philosophy, and rightly so. In a tradition that has lauded logic and transmissibility from its inception, it should come to no wonder that the important figures, such as Kant and Aristotle, take this faculty to be one of the most important in the human experience. Nevertheless, it is always important to take other aspects into account when making ethical decisions, such as societal norms. Even though ethics that do not have reason at their center are thought of as impossible at the moment, one can never know, and they could be possible in the future after many changes in philosophy. It would be very interesting to see how they approach sense-building and generalization without recurring to this very powerful human tool.
Works Cited
Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics. Trans. W. D. Ross. Kitchener: Batoche Books, 1999. PDF.
Cottingham, John. Philosophy and the good life: Reason and the passions in Greek, Cartesian an psychoanalytic ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print.
