Reason

Shahab Sabahi

Energy and Environment for Development – Policy Analysis Research Group

Humans have long been curious to understand the principles which govern planets, ecosystem, society and individual interactions. Knowing the governing laws gives humans to foresee their future development. The enlightenment, intellectual movement marked the rise of the modern life in Europe of the 17th and 18th centuries, was the crucial era for evolving this human’s desire. It furnished appropriate ground on which ideas about individual capability, nature, and human rights were shaped in adherence to ideology of liberalism. Reason was used to explain phenomena and link between human and its environment. The enlightenment is credited for supporting revolutionary developments in art, religion, philosophy and politics. However, it would be safe to say that central to the enlightenment was the deification of reason.

Indeed, the enlightenment had its origin backed to the ancient Greeks. The ancient Greek philosophers embodied the idea of reason in their philosophies and promoted its application in their speculations. For them philosophy was the mother of sciences engulfing the essence of all human achievements. It is therefore natural to associate philosophy with elements of universal scientific developments.(G. Saridis) It is true that human, since then, with the use of philosophy and reasoning, has described phenomena, in form of speculations, divine laws or explaining empirical experiences.

Today, this trend still follows. We keep attempting to conceptualize better frameworks to explain phenomena and the governing laws with the help of both philosophy and scientific facts.