What Reason is there for Reason?
What Reason is there for Reason?
Exploring the Introduction to "Plato's Critique of Impure Reason" by D.C. Schindler
Human reason, or rationality, is the quality which separates us from animals. Yet reason seems to be increasingly underused these days. Recently, a US Supreme Court justice said she did not know the definition of a woman because she is “not a biologist.” The absurdity of such a statement is a testament to the collapse of reason in modern fiat culture. When most of life is structured in such a way that people are told what to do and what to think, is it any wonder that this essential human quality begins to atrophy? As D.C. Schinder approaches this essential quality:
“What reason could one possibly give for reason?… the very raising of the question seems at once to deny the possibility of answering and to force a particular answer.”
Seeking the reasonableness of human reason is a self-referential process, semantically at least. But, it is the nature of reason that is constantly seeks to undermine itself in pursuit of a more comprehensive whole. This seeking of self-undermining is related to the contemplative aspect of rationality, whereas the seeking of analysis relates to the algorithmic aspect of rationality. In other words, the structures we construct by employing algorithmic ratio (pronounced rat-ee-o, the ancient Greek word for reason or rationality) are inherently provisional, and can never fully represent the underlying realities they are intended to reflect. Said simply: “The map is not the territory.”
All constructs of algorithmic ratio—including thoughts, words, and symbols—are mere maps of the ineffable, and thus irrational, real world. In this sense, algorithmic reason is a rational tool for exploring inherently irrational ontological landscapes.
“Reason, Nietzsche will say, is at root irrational; truth is a subspecies of falsehood that has been elevated above the other falsehoods for ‘reasons’ that cannot be measured against the standard of reason itself.”
Reason does have another aspect that is not provisional—the contemplative. Where algorithmic ratio is useful for classification and comparison, contemplative ratio is useful for reaching beyond the provisional structures underlying such categorization and analysis. If algorithmic ratio is the means by which we draw our maps, contemplative ratio is the means by which we move about the territory. Reason in its fully classical sense involved the soul’s relationship to reality (contemplative), but it has been reduced to a solely mental faculty (algorithmic). Although both aspects of ratio have atrophied recently, contemplative reason has especially fallen by the wayside, as is clear in the dismissal of “the soul” as mystical non-sense by most moderns. Although algorithms are useful for engaging the quantitative domains of reality, they can tell us nothing about its qualitative dimensions. It is in these irreducible, incomparable areas (for instance, the greenness of green) where the non-mental faculties of the soul are used to engage with the real world.
Of course, most moderns do not understand these nuances of rationality. Author D.C. Schindler elaborates on the modern misconceptions of reason:
“Whereas reason had earlier been the deepest place of the human soul’s encounter with reality, it becomes more and more the mind’s encounter with itself alone, and thus becomes more and more of a problem.”
“… the main intellectual currents in 20th century continental philosophy have been virtually unanimous in their effort to relativize or even abandon reason.”
“The search for an alternative to rationality is evident… in nearly all of the major figures generally labeled ‘postmodern’.”
“What prompts the writing of this book… is the belief that the explicit dismantling of reason and its claim that occurs in certain circles within the academy is merely the reflection of a more profound, more subtle, and more pervasive problem: the general acceptance of a radically impoverished conception of reason, both by those who deny and many of those who affirm reason’s claims.”
Clearly, the value of human reason is receding, even in the chambers of academia. Attendant to this recession of reason is the apparent loss of meaning in the lives of millions around the world. Why is this happening? What are the consequences? What can be done about it? Is there a proper standard of reason? We will attempt to answer these questions and more in subsequent installments to this essay series.
Be sure to check out the “Platonic Philosophy Series” where John Vervaeke and I take a ~10 hour deep dive into these essential topics:
Thank you for reading What Reason is there for Reason?
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We have forgotten the obvious. What drives sentient beings?
There is a reason for reason and in it's right in your face. Like right in your face.