reason

—reasoner, n.

/ree"zeuhn/, n.

1. a basis or cause, as for some belief, action, fact, event, etc.: the reason for declaring war.

2. a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action.

3. the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences.

4. sound judgment; good sense.

5. normal or sound powers of mind; sanity.

6. Logic. a premise of an argument.

7. Philos.

a. the faculty or power of acquiring intellectual knowledge, either by direct understanding of first principles or by argument.

b. the power of intelligent and dispassionate thought, or of conduct influenced by such thought.

c. Kantianism. the faculty by which the ideas of pure reason are created.

8. bring (someone) to reason, to induce a change of opinion in (someone) through presentation of arguments; convince: The mother tried to bring her rebellious daughter to reason.

9. by reason of, on account of; because of: He was consulted about the problem by reason of his long experience.

10. in or within reason, in accord with reason; justifiable; proper: She tried to keep her demands in reason.

11. stand to reason, to be clear, obvious, or logical: With such an upbringing it stands to reason that the child will be spoiled.

12. with reason, with justification; properly: The government is concerned about the latest crisis, and with reason.

v.i.

13. to think or argue in a logical manner.

14. to form conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises.

15. to urge reasons which should determine belief or action.

v.t.

16. to think through logically, as a problem (often fol. by out).

17. to conclude or infer.

18. to convince, persuade, etc., by reasoning.

19. to support with reasons.

[1175-1225; ME resoun, reisun (n.) < OF reisun, reson < L ration- (s. of ratio) RATIO]

Syn. 1. purpose, end, aim, object, objective. REASON, CAUSE, MOTIVE are terms for a circumstance (or circumstances) which brings about or explains certain results. A REASON is an explanation of a situation or circumstance which made certain results seem possible or appropriate: The reason for the robbery was the victim's display of his money. The CAUSE is the way in which the circumstances produce the effect, that is, make a specific action seem necessary or desirable: The cause was the robber's extreme need of money.

A MOTIVE is the hope, desire, or other force which starts the action (or an action) in an attempt to produce specific results: The motive was to get money to buy food for his family. 2. excuse, rationalization. 3. understanding, intellect, mind, intelligence. 15. persuade.

Usage. The construction REASON IS BECAUSE is criticized in a number of usage guides: The reason for the long delays was because the costs greatly exceeded the original estimates. One objection to this construction is based on its redundancy: the word BECAUSE (literally, by cause) contains within it the meaning of REASON; thus saying the REASON IS BECAUSE is like saying "The cause is by cause," which would never be said.

A second objection is based on the claim that BECAUSE can introduce only adverbial clauses and that REASON IS requires completion by a noun clause. Critics would substitute that for BECAUSE in the offending construction: The reason for the long delays in completing the project was that the costs. ... Although the objections described here are frequently raised, REASON IS BECAUSE is still common in almost all levels of speech and occurs often in edited writing as well.

A similar charge of redundancy is made against THE REASON WHY, which is also a well-established idiom: The reason why the bill failed to pass was the defection of three key senators.

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      in philosophy, the faculty or process of drawing logical inferences. The term “reason” is also used in several other, narrower senses. Reason is in opposition to sensation, perception, feeling, desire, as the faculty (the existence of which is denied by empiricists) by which fundamental truths are intuitively apprehended. These fundamental truths are the causes or “reasons” of all derivative facts. According to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (Kant, Immanuel), reason is the power of synthesizing into unity, by means of comprehensive principles, the concepts that are provided by the intellect. That reason which gives a priori principles Kant calls “pure reason,” as distinguished from the “practical reason,” which is specially concerned with the performance of actions. In formal logic the drawing of inferences (frequently called “ratiocination,” from Latin ratiocinari, “to use the reasoning faculty”) is classified from Aristotle on as deductive (from generals to particulars) and inductive (from particulars to generals).

      In theology, reason, as distinguished from faith, is the human intelligence exercised upon religious truth whether by way of discovery or by way of explanation. The limits within which the reason may be used have been laid down differently in different churches and periods of thought: on the whole, modern Christianity, especially in the Protestant churches, tends to allow to reason a wide field, reserving, however, as the sphere of faith the ultimate (supernatural) truths of theology.

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