From the beginning of man's existence, actions have been determined, whether consciously or unconsciously, by reason. However, in today's world, where propagation and survival of the human species is not a pressing concern, reason has come into a new type of importance as a means by which insight can be gained into a subject. This new use of reason induces many questions, one of which is whether every claim must be supported by reason. Knowledge claims must be supported by reason, or the knowledge claim does not have a basis to be truly considered knowledge. It can be regarded as a number of other things, such as a feeling. The dependence on reason is varied between areas of knowledge, as reason is much more important in the natural sciences and mathematics than in history and the arts. Reason can be effectively used in some of these areas, but it can often be harmful in gaining insight into some others.
Mathematics is one area where reason plays an integral part. Reason is the......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1084
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |