10. Five Reasons to Use Reason: Philosophy and Human Flourishing

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Five Reasons to Use Reason from Shakespeare’s Exhortation #

Berquist identifies five distinct reasons Shakespeare gives (or implies) for why one should use reason:

In Reference to God (Two Reasons) #

1. Obedience to God’s Plan: God gave us reason not to be left unused. Using reason obeys God’s intention in giving us this faculty.
2. Becoming Like God: Insofar as reason understands, it becomes godlike. God knows all things by knowing Himself (no discourse, no search). Reason becomes more godlike as it actually understands and acquires knowledge.

In Reference to Man (Implicit, Central Reason) #

• The Chief Good of Man: Man’s chief good (his greatest end and purpose) is necessarily distinct from the chief good of beasts because man is more than a beast. Since man has reason and beasts do not, man’s chief good must involve the use of reason. Without reason, man cannot achieve his proper end.

In Reference to Man Himself (Two Reasons) #

1. Authenticity and Self-Governance: A man is true to himself only when he uses his reason. When reason is in control, the person is in control; when emotion or passion is in control, the person is not in control of himself. What is chosen through reason is more essentially “me” than what is merely felt or desired emotionally.
2. Relational Integrity: If you are not true to yourself (by following reason rather than fleeting emotion), you cannot be true to others—not to your spouse, friend, or beneficiary.

Reason and Choice vs. Emotion #

Berquist develops the distinction between reason-based choice and emotion through multiple examples:

• The Alcoholic in Recovery: An alcoholic who has chosen to abstain faces urges to drink. He is true to himself when he adheres to his deliberated choice (by calling his sponsor) rather than following the emotional urge. The choice, made through reason, is more truly “him” than the passing emotion.

• Legal Judgment: Courts judge premeditated crimes more severely than crimes of passion. This shows society recognizes that a deliberated choice (involving reason) reveals more about the person’s true intent than an emotional outburst.

• The Cement Truck Story: A man discovers his wife’s infidelity. Instead of killing the lover (crime of passion), he backs his cement truck into the man’s convertible. The judge dismisses the case as justified—illustrating that reason allows for more responsible and measured action than passionate impulse.

• Proteus from The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Proteus claims he cannot be true to himself without being false to his betrothed Julia and his best friend Valentine. But this is false. Proteus confuses emotional attraction with authentic selfhood. He had chosen Julia as his bride and Valentine as his friend; these choices are more “him” than the newfound lustful feelings for Sylvia.

The Relationship Between Reason and Order #

Berquist emphasizes that philosophy cannot be pursued without “looking before and after” because:

• Philosophy is reasoned-out knowledge requiring use of reason
• Philosophy begins in wonder, which is desire to know causes (which are “before” effects)
• Wisdom seeks first causes (“before” is defined by priority to other things)
• Every part of philosophy involves large discourse looking before and after in different senses
• Recognizing natural beginnings requires knowing what is before everything else

Understanding “Before and After” #

Berquist clarifies that one cannot even understand the language of philosophy without grasping what “before” means. The word “before” has multiple senses, but understanding order at all requires this distinction. One cannot recognize a beginning as a beginning without seeing that it is before everything else.

Key Arguments #

The Argument from Man’s Nature #

• Man is more than a beast (premise)
• Therefore, man’s chief good must be more than the chief good of a beast (consequence)
• The chief good of beasts is sleep and feed (observation)
• Therefore, the chief good of man must involve something beyond sleep and feed
• Man has reason and beasts do not (observation)
• Therefore, man’s chief good must involve reason

Shakespeare’s logical form: Rather than direct affirmation, Shakespeare uses denial of the consequent: “If man’s chief good were no more than sleep and feed, then man would be no more than a beast. But man is more than a beast. Therefore, man’s chief good is more than sleep and feed.”

The Argument from Self-Governance #

• A person is in control of himself when reason is in control (observation)
• A person is not in control of himself when emotion/passion is in control (observation)
• What a person chooses through reason reflects his true self more than what he merely feels (corollary)
• Therefore, being true to oneself means following reason rather than emotion
• Therefore, if one is not true to himself (doesn’t follow reason), he cannot be true to others

The Argument from Godlikeness #

• God understands everything by knowing Himself (theology)
• Reason, insofar as it understands, imitates this divine knowing (analogy)
• Therefore, using reason well makes one godlike to the extent possible for humans
• Therefore, using reason is a pursuit of likeness to God

Important Definitions #

Chief Good (σκοπός) #

• The end and purpose of a thing; that which the thing is ordered toward
• The greatest good of a thing
• Equivalent to the “market of his time” (using market in the sense of what one aims at, like a marksman’s target)

Reason (λόγος) #

• The ability for large discourse looking before and after
• Involves coming to know one thing through knowing other things
• Characterized by the ability to distinguish things and see order (nothing is before or after itself)

Godlike (θεοειδής) #

• Insofar as reason is able to understand, it shares in God’s nature
• NOT godlike in the sense that reason has discourse (God has no discourse; He knows all things immediately)
• The Fourth Lateran Council teaches: there is always a greater unlikeness than likeness between creature and God

True to Oneself (αὐθεντικός) #

• Not merely following emotion or impulse
• Acting according to reasoned choice and deliberated intention
• Maintaining consistency with one’s essential choices (e.g., marriage vows, friendship commitments)

Examples & Illustrations #

Proteus and Julia (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) #

• Proteus is betrothed to Julia with twenty soul-confirming oaths
• He meets Sylvia at court and feels emotional attraction
• He claims he cannot be true to himself without being false to Julia and Valentine
• But this reveals confusion: his authentic self is bound by his deliberated choice of Julia as bride, not by passing lust
• Polonius’s wisdom applies: “This above all, to thine own self be true; then it follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man”

The Cement Truck Incident #

• A man discovers his wife’s infidelity
• Rather than killing the lover (crime of passion), he backs his cement truck into the convertible
• The judge dismisses the case as justified
• This shows: even in law, measured action (involving reason) is viewed differently from passionate reaction
• The man exercised reason even in anger, rendering a measured response

The Alcoholic’s Choice #

• After deliberation, an alcoholic chooses to quit drinking
• He recognizes the damage to himself and family
• He still feels urges to drink
• He is true to himself when he calls his sponsor (adheres to choice through reason)
• He is not true to himself when he follows the urge (emotion)

Letter vs. Angry Words #

• If you say angry words to someone and regret them, you can often repair the relationship
• If you write them a letter, it’s harder to retract (involves more deliberation, more reason, more choice)
• Therefore, the letter reveals more about your true intent than words spoken in anger

Wine Tasting and Judgment #

• Judges of wines taste them blind (without seeing the bottle)
• This tests whether they can actually distinguish wines
• Simply distinguishing two wines (seeing a difference) is not the same as judging which is better
• To judge well, one must know which is before the other (in goodness)

Notable Quotes #

“He gave us reason to use, not to leave rusty and moldy.”

“When is a man true to himself? When he’s true to his emotion or to his choice?” (Response: to his choice)

“When reason is in control, I am in control. When anger is in control, I wasn’t quite in control of myself.”

“Which is more me, my emotion or my choice? … The thing I’ve chosen is more me.”

“If you’re really true to yourself, you’ll be true to your friend.”

“It’s more Godlike to help a whole city be happy than just the good of one individual.”

“There is always a greater unlikeness than likeness between the creature and God.” (Fourth Lateran Council, via Berquist’s discussion)

Questions Addressed #

Why must philosophy proceed through the use of reason? #

• Philosophy is reasoned-out knowledge
• Philosophy begins in wonder (desire to know causes)
• Wisdom seeks first causes
• Every part of philosophy involves “looking before and after” in some sense
• Even the language and concepts of philosophy cannot be understood without grasping “before”

In what way is reason godlike? #

• Reason is godlike insofar as it understands
• Reason becomes more godlike as it actually understands more
• BUT reason is NOT godlike in having discourse; God has no discourse, no search, no motion—He knows all things immediately by knowing Himself
• The Fourth Lateran Council principle applies: creature always differs from God in a greater way than it resembles God

What is the relationship between reason and self-governance? #

• The person in control of himself is the one whose reason is in control
• The person not in control is the one driven by passion or emotion
• This is evident in everyday observation: we tell someone in anger, “Get control of yourself”—meaning, let reason take over
• Legal systems recognize this: premeditated acts (involving reason) are judged more severely than passionate acts

How does Polonius’s maxim relate to Proteus’s situation? #

• Polonius: “This above all, to thine own self be true; then it follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man”
• Proteus falsely claims he must be false to Julia and Valentine to be true to himself
• But being true to oneself means adhering to one’s deliberated choices (Julia as bride, Valentine as friend), not following new emotional impulses
• If Proteus were truly true to himself (faithful to his choices), he could not betray Julia and Valentine

Why is the chief good of man necessarily different from the chief good of beasts? #

• Man is more than a beast (has reason; beasts do not)
• Therefore, man’s chief good must be more than the chief good of beasts
• The beast’s chief good involves sleep and feed (basic animal functions)
• Man’s chief good must involve reason (what distinguishes him from beasts)
• This holds even before knowing exactly what man’s chief good is—we know it must involve reason