A Mind to Reason

Contents
A Mind to Reason............................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
Truth .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Burden of proof........................................................................................................................... 4
The purpose of this collection of information is to bring together in one place as much material as I
think useful on the subject of reason.

Introduction

“Logic is both a science and an art; it is concerned with the quest of knowledge and truth, and it is also
a study of the validity or correctness of our reasoning.” 1

1
John A. Mourant, Formal Logic: An Introductory Textbook, New York: The
MacMillan Co., 1963, p.2.
Truth

When it comes to truth one of the most used quotations is that of Pilate to Christ when he
asks, “What is truth?”
But in order to answer that question one has to first clarify it by asking a further question.

The truth in regards to what?

You see truth in itself is just a concept we as humans created, in order to establish that a
proposition does in fact correspond to reality. We as humans create concepts in order to give
a name to an abstract or generic idea generalised from particular instances. Love is a good
example of this, truth is another.

A proposition is simply a statement like my eyes are blue or it is raining outside. In order to
conclude that a proposition does in fact correspond to reality we have set of rules (logic)
which we use to determine if indeed our proposition is True or False.

Now it is not difficult to verify that the preceding propositions correspond with reality, however
it does becomes more complicated when we have one proposition supporting another and
thus create an argument. This is where the rules of logic and the ability to use them correctly
(reasoning) comes in, but I am getting ahead of myself now.

The simple fact is, that truth does not stand independent of reality, but rather it is a reality
check so to speak, a method of removing us from a world of illusion.

Burden of proof
Ere going into detailed argument it may be well to remind the reader that the burden of
affording proof lies on the affirmer of a proposition; the rational attitude of the human mind is
not that of a boundless credulity, accepting every statement as true until it has been proved to
be false, but is that of a suspension of judgment on every statement which, though not
obviously false, is not supported by evidence, and of an absolute rejection of a statement self-
contradictory in its terms, or incompatible with truths already demonstrated.
Annie Besant

the existence of anything may be sensated or it may be inferred; the astronomer

believed in the existence of Saturn because he saw it; but he also believed in the
existence of the planet afterwards named Neptune before he saw it, attaining this
belief by way of induction from the otherwise inexplicable behavior of Uranus.

If something is real then it can be discovered in one of 2 ways; either by

sensation or by inference. Sensation uses the senses while inference requires
reason.
For example the astronomer first believed in the existence of Saturn because he
saw it; but he also believed in the existence of the planet afterwards named
Neptune before he saw it, attaining this belief by way of induction from the
otherwise inexplicable behaviour of Uranus.

Now this is where I put the use of the word faith, if one can infer the existence of
something, then one has reason to believe it. If one is then able directly observe
the effect of this something, then one’s faith in it can increase. If one can then
make predictions about this something, which can be measured and turn out to
be correct. Then one has good reason to believe in such a something. Faith
enables this belief to grow to a point where it can be sustained by evidence.