What is Reason? and who are the enemies of reason?

Question

I know The enemies of reason is a book, and a TV shop by Richard Dawkins, but by what reasoning can you personally call someone an enemy of reason, I have been called an enemy of reason recently, and this was becouse the person in question thought i am religious, and believe in god (both I do not claim).
So I ask everyone What is your definition of reason? and what would you say an enemy of reason was?
As always I ask this question with as much metta as I can
(((((May you find what you are looking for)))))
Thankyou for answering

Answer 1

The truest enemy of reason is attachment, especially to prescribed ways of seeing the world. When we let go of the need to be certain and to prove that we're right, we vastly increase our chances of asking real questions.



((((May all beings be free.))))



Namaste

Answer 2

Dawkins is well known for his book "The Selfish Gene" which I read and liked, but found to be a bit simplistic. He is also known as an Atheist.

I don't really know what reason is, except that you must use your brain to use it or reach it. Also you must build your arguments using logic and not some kind of convoluted combination of reason and belief. Intuition is not the same thing as reason, though it can be very valuable, since it sometimes gives us shortcuts to subconscious memories and information.

If you use intuition or if you are a person of religious faith, it does not mean you are an "enemy of reason". Everyone is free to reason, think, intuit and believe whatever they want.

Perhaps an enemy of reason, would be someone, a nation or a group of people who established pseudo-logical reason based on lies or false information, in order to deceive and achieve control over people through propaganda, not facts.

For example, if someone made the argument that the Dalai Lama is a terrorist, it would not be based on facts, since he is a peaceful man and is not even promoting the boycott of the Olympics.

Answer 3

Reason, is why something lawfully happens, within the definitive term if you believe in "god".

Whether you like "god" or not is determined by what you think "god" is.

Therefore the enemy of reason for you is anyone who has a different idea of "god", to that which you yourself hold, whether you care to admit that fact or not.

That is reason, true reason has no enemies. See it change?

I recommend you read Prometheus rising, it is a bit "dated" now but you may find it interesting.

Answer 4

Despite being upheld as the paragon of reason by the Age of Reason movement,Isaac Newton was pretty unreasonable when it came to his wacky ideas about religion and alchemy. The basis of reason is that any belief requires some sort of objective proof- Scientists like Robert Boye demanded that something could only reasonably be considered to be true if it was provable



Common sense really



But if you are asking about who is the enemies of reason, then I would have to say the French

Answer 5

someone that does or believes in something without having a good enough reason and is stubborn about it.

e.g if someones says "i believe in God and another ask "why?" and the person says "Just. because i do! full stop" he is avoiding proper reason therefore could be called an enemy of reason.

Answer 6

enemies:

tradition

religion

fear

ignorance

lack of intelligence (in a few cases)

greed and power (in government cases)



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Noun 1. reason - a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration"

ground

rational motive - a motive that can be defended by reasoning or logical argument

occasion - reason; "there was no occasion for complaint"

account, score - grounds; "don't do it on my account"; "the paper was rejected on account of its length"; "he tried to blame the victim but his success on that score was doubtful"

wherefore, why - the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase `the whys and wherefores'

2. reason - an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon; "the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly"

explanation, account - a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.; "the explanation was very simple"; "I expected a brief account"

3. reason - the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination; "we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil"

intellect, understanding

faculty, mental faculty, module - one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind

4. reason - the state of having good sense and sound judgment; "his rationality may have been impaired"; "he had to rely less on reason than on rousing their emotions"

rationality, reasonableness

saneness, sanity - normal or sound powers of mind

Answer 7

Ignorant people are the enemies of Reason-- and Laredo could be the capital of Ignorance...from the 30 years i've lived here...i haven't met a whole lot of intelligent people.

Answer 8

Reason is the faculty in man that moves him to live according to Ethics. It's a divine attribute granted to man, that propels him to use his mind to develop his Intellect.



The enemies of Reason are religion, superstitions, ignorance, faith, especially faith, and a poor sense of morality.

Answer 9

"The Enemies of Reason " would be a really good name for a rock band.

Answer 10

Reasoning is like a car. It gets you from point A to point B

Those who would keep you from your destination is the enemy of reason!!!!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

(clear thinking and study of select subjects helps)

Answer 11

i think reason is what makes sense. whatever makes sense at the present time with thought and concent. it's irritating when ignorance overpowers reason. ignorance which is powered by stubborness is probably the worst thing someone can have.

Answer 12

reason is why someone or something does something. enemies of reason do something without answering that "why"

Answer 13

confident, yet once you listened to lucifer he could could positioned what could sound like very sensible arguements. Your CPU in basic terms purposes on reason. yet then it does not could make judgements that impact this is or others wellbeing. and so on...

Answer 14

ALRIGHTY THENNNN.................LOL...ok the enemy of reason is defo US..we can blame the devil ,but sometimes it is US with the problem,we can hinder ourselves,Damage ourselves with our own thoughts and actions.....Jesus is Lord..Polly xx

Answer 15

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/reason