Hi,
This discussion borders on a thought that I’ve had for a long time, and haven’t quite come to terms with; and that is the idea that there are places were reason can explain things, and places where reason cannot explain things, the latter being by far the more frequent. It seems to me that the basis of most of our actions, motivations, thoughts are really grounded in feelings/desires/emotions...… what we want, what we like, what we want to be.… and that the application of reason to our lives, is in most cases.… a means of justifying and acting on these feelings and desires. We are not rational creatures. We can, and do, apply reason very effectively to certain areas of human endeavour, but in most of the things we do, it’s not very effective. I’m not knocking reason.… it can be very useful. I’m sure that I have not explained myself very well. Perhaps someone with more knowledge and insight into what I’m trying to say can flesh it out.
I apologize if I did not address the issue under discussion, but it provided me with an opportunity to get this idea out, and see what others have to say about it.
…… john
Hi, This discussion borders on a thought that I’ve had for a long time, and haven’t quite come to terms with; and that is the idea that there are places were reason can explain things, and places where reason cannot explain things, the latter being by far the more frequent. It seems to me that the basis of most of our actions, motivations, thoughts are really grounded in feelings/desires/emotions...… what we want, what we like, what we want to be.… and that the application of reason to our lives, is in most cases.… a means of justifying and acting on these feelings and desires. We are not rational creatures. We can, and do, apply reason very effectively to certain areas of human endeavour, but in most of the things we do, it’s not very effective. I’m not knocking reason.… it can be very useful. I’m sure that I have not explained myself very well. Perhaps someone with more knowledge and insight into what I’m trying to say can flesh it out. I apologize if I did not address the issue under discussion, but it provided me with an opportunity to get this idea out, and see what others have to say about it. …… john