Logic VS Reason

Through the ages of reason and romanticism, it is proved that one cannot use either logic or emotion alone. In order to achieve full effectiveness, logic and emotion must be used together. The age of reason focused mainly on logic. Most of the pieces produced from the age of reason have a strong argument. However, the argument has no touch on emotion. Even if the story is about beauty there is still no emotion. These authors simply focused on the logical sides of all arguments. The age of romanticism, however, focused on nothing but logic. There is such a strong sense of emotion that the logical side of things is almost forgotten. The pieces that came from this age have either a strong sense of fear or a strong sense of love. There is no look at the logical or sensible side of these situations.

One of the products of the age of reason is A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. This essay discusses the outrageous idea of how people should eat their own offspring. While this argument is absolutely unrealistic, the points he makes within the essay are quite valid. In paragraph 6 of this essay, Swift states “The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders, from which number I subtract thirty thousand couple who are able to maintain children, although I apprehend there cannot be as many under the present distresses of the kingdom.” Swift then continues to list a large amount of numbers to subract and add. This shows that to Swift these were just numbers, not actual human beings. His emotion was removed when he made this argument.

Another piece that was the product of the age of re...

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...rds their love.”(pg 81) The monster is explaining how he was never given a family so he made one. This is a very emotional part of the book. It is the point where the reader realizes the monster is not truly a monster. Sometimes the most hideous creatures are dying for the smallest bit of kindness or love. This is how Shelley synthesizes logic and emotion throughout the novel to make the strongest argument and message.

By the end of both of the ages, it is clear that neither logic nor reason can stand alone. When logic is used alone, you lose the sense of emotion and are essentially dehumanized. But on the other hand, using emotion alone can cause someone to make decisions without using their sense of logic and reasoning. Through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and other pieces produced in these eras, it is proved that logic and emotion need each other.