Essay On Reason And Experience

Throughout time we have seen western philosophy influenced by the difference between reason and experience as the foundation of principle knowledge. Two main philosophical strands that provide the back bone for this difference are rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism will show that there are synthetic a priori statements, something to be known without reference to experience, that meaningful facts about the world can be discovered by rational, non-empirical means. Empiricists aim to show that these a priori facts are analytical, where it doesn’t give any more information that is not stated in the original terms involved. After understanding the basis that forces us to look which is better for ethics, reason or experience, we have to lay out what these factors provide. A question to think about is, do you need to have a reason in order to be involved with a certain experience?

The main focus of Kant’s system of ethics is to derive the moral law from reason. Following this focus the immorality that is involved is inconsistent and in the end irrational. According to Kantian ethics, there are two important implications that ties in reason to Kant’s view on ethics. His use of reason is to help provide a response to the egoists, who focuses on the act of our own self-interest. A second implication that Kant uses reason for is to explain the scope of morality. There is a reason why Kant wants to focus on our own self-interest because if you can be successful on your own the experiences that relate should be successful as well. As a society we cannot fully rely on the single well-being to make all the changes necessary in life. Mackinnon states that when we are looking at the right or wrong of a situation we appeal to certain norms...

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... if you fill your life with a lot of reason and little experience you will end up with nothing happening. Finding the overall balance between reason and experience will make you the person you want to be.

To conclude, over time we have seen many philosophers such as Kant and Descartes that emphasized their theories and thought to shape the world we live in today. These notable people have created the stepping stones for people to conquer their dreams in a positive ethical sense. We all have different thoughts about the ethical world, but that is what makes everyone different. You cannot have the same experiences as someone else, and feel like you will become a better person. This is because each person is different, and will take different values out of each experience they are involved in. They will also be involved with these experiences for different reasons.