Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses of Reason as a Way of Knowing Essay Example for Free

Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses of Reason as a Way of Knowing EssayThis paper that I am writing on is a piece of paper that is undeni satisfactory position. Hundreds of years of development and definition in any case back up this statement as do any scientific experiments carried out upon it in an attack to prove that this piece of paper is indeed a piece of paper. Yet by dint of reasoning the fact that this is a piece of paper throne be disputed and even proved defame. Reason seems analogous an excellent way to work out the world around us. It uses any of the facts available to come up with a suitable hypothesis which can be tested and either proved or disproved through with(predicate) experimentation. This is the foundation of science, which is what the majority of flock would trust. So anything proved through scientific fork up in minds is therefore and confident(p) fact. Of course, in every experiment write up there is an ac knowledgement that the data coll ected efficiency not be completely ideal or that the interpretation of results might be wayward and again this is perfectly valid. It is reasonable to assume that despite your vanquish efforts you whitethorn have got the answer wrong and another answer, no matter how unlikely, may be correct.As well as reason creation proved by scientific experiment it can as well be proved by historical fact. For fount, it is undisputable fact that on 30th May 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. That cannot be argued with, it was that troth and will continuously be that date no matter what happens in the future and every bill text or website would agree with that fact. So it is therefore confounded to start claiming that Joan of Arc died last calendar week as historical facts, which argon perfectly reasonable, tell us otherwise. However, does reason really help us in our quest for knowledge or is it a poor way of finding out approximately the world? Despite much scientific inve stigation and historical knowledge there are some(prenominal) questions in the world that are left unanswered and unexplained. These questions are sometimes fundamental to life itself. For example, how are we conscious beings that can interact with the world beyond purely animal instincts? This question could possibly be explained by the electrical impulses in the brain that form our thoughts but how can we have developed into any kind society purely through electrical impulses? In this case, using reason to explain what is accident almost seems unreasonable as the potential answer seems not to be able to completely covering the question.After all, if it is only electrical impulses, indeed what need is there for a person to be able to be able to create a symphony with an orchestra? As well as reason not being able to answer some questions there are some problems with following synthetical arguments. arranged fallacies are the main example of this. This is where through looking at both or more facts a conclusion is drawn which is false. For example Cake is food, food is pleasant-tasting, and therefore cake is tasty. However, this is obviously not aline as whilst some cake may be tasty, perhaps even the majority this does not mean to say that all cake is tasty. After all a burnt cake is not that tasty to a fault not only is the conclusion false the two facts through which the conclusion is derived can also be said to be false. After all, any cake that I bake should not be classed as food and not all food is tasty.This statement is far too general and is a large problem with logical fallacies as they generally come to a wrong conclusion, both through the ignorance of other factors as well as the fact that often the facts are not completely accurate in the first place. Lateral thinking is also something which at first seems befuddled yet (often) in hindsight becomes logical. It is creative thinking which does not merely follow the most logical steps to r each an answer. For example a suggested solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle tocopherol was to ship vast amounts of Marmite to the area. This seems utterly senseless, as surely holding talks and making agreements between the two sides would be the best steps forward. However, on examining the idea further it becomes logical, if creative In the typical diet of people in the Middle easterly area there is a privation of zinc due to the main diet of unleavened bread. This lack of zinc creates aggression.Marmite contains a lot of zinc and therefore could be used to solve the problem in the Middle East. Whilst this solution does not seem reasonable it would work and so shows that reason is not always the best policy. There is also a discrepancy in opinion between what people may think is logical and illogical. Many people in the world take illogical decisions and believe illogical knowledge. Or they seem to do so. Religion is a major factor in many peoples lives and it a ffects many of the things that they think and do. Due to this people may make a decision that seems illogical to secular people which is perfectly logical to religious people. This brings up the question of what is reason? After all if two different decisions about the same thing are made and are both reasonable to those people it begs the question of whether or not reason itself can be defined. Is reason just a matter of opinion or is there a yardstick by which all reasonable decisions can be made.If we look back at the British Empire one of the purposes of that was to Make the world England kind of then to respect what other cultures thought and did. In many small islands in the Far East a warrior culture was common and often tribes would fight each other for prestige rather then for anything else. However, to the British this seemed barbaric, yet without it the culture fell apart. For them it was reasonable for this to take place, the knowledge they had seemed to point to the fa ct that this was a good thing. But not for the British who had a very different opinion through the knowledge that they had acquired. To conclude reason as a way of knowing has both strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are that a difference of opinion means that people will reason differently too making it an irregular system of making decisions and acquiring knowledge. Reason may also not be the best policy as more creative solutions may be better which can be derived through lateral thinking.Also logical fallacies call into question the validity of reason as they produce false results through logical steps. As well as this we cannot answer some fundamental questions through reason. However, reason is often the best way that we can make decisions in the world. Scientific experiment and historical knowledge are two very good examples of how reason cannot be changed and is therefore very valuable as it allows us to have consistency with our knowledge. Of course religion means th at some inconsistency comes into play with our knowledge but on the whole reason is often the best policy.