Is there any rational reason to care about rationality?

[chrisiacovetti]

This question's been on my mind lately. In some debates and discussions with friends of mine (with entirely different worldviews), I couldn't help but notice how high reason and rationality were being elevated in the arena of religious and philosophical speculation. It seemed logical and basic initially, but after a while I came to feel that not every question does, in fact, have any rational answer. "What is the meaning of life?" "Does God exist?" "Why does evil exist?" "Why is murder wrong?" "Why does reason itself matter?" (I realize some people may object to some of my examples, and argue that some of them do in fact have rational answers, but I hope my point is clear).

So why is reason so important? Is there any logical answer to the question? If not, what would the implications of this be?

[cafolini]

This question's been on my mind lately. In some debates and discussions with friends of mine (with entirely different worldviews), I couldn't help but notice how high reason and rationality were being elevated in the arena of religious and philosophical speculation. It seemed logical and basic initially, but after a while I came to feel that not every question does, in fact, have any rational answer. "What is the meaning of life?" "Does God exist?" "Why does evil exist?" "Why is murder wrong?" "Why does reason itself matter?" (I realize some people may object to some of my examples, and argue that some of them do in fact have rational answers, but I hope my point is clear).

So why is reason so important? Is there any logical answer to the question? If not, what would the implications of this be?

People can argue about reasons till hell freezes over. The arguments are all without exception rationalizations without any justification other than philosophical babble. I think your points are well-taken.

[cacian]

What is the meaning of life?" "Does God exist?" "Why does evil exist?" "Why is murder wrong?" "Why does reason itself matter?" (I realize some people may object to some of my examples, and argue that some of them do in fact have rational answers, but I hope my point is clear).

So why is reason so important? Is there any logical answer to the question? If not, what would the implications of this be?

How do you mean by: ''why is murder wrong''?
and to answer your question it is not about a reason as much as it is about getting somewhere and to the bottom of it if you like. A reason can be interpreted as a map reader a satnave where one relies on its information to get from a to z. In order to understand something anything one must look for clues these might be reasons also and receptors to anything one wishes to conclude.
A reason is the motive that drives someone to go and do something.
A questions simply transmit a chain of thoughts and it is not necessarily looking for an answer as much as it is saying look what I have been thinking about. The answers one gets are what I call the leads to finding why one has formulated that though. It is just saying that our brain is active and its intelligence activated by thinking. These reactors/questions are simply what you call the wheel that energise us in order to survive life. By engaging our brains and reflecting our lives are prolonged in other words it is healthy to think asks answers and look for answer. Surviving life is not juts through food it is also through activating our brains to recharge our cells and have a normal breathing functioning body that adapts to nature and its environment. I would say reasons are part of the thinking process and are vital for our survival.

[PeterL]

This question's been on my mind lately. In some debates and discussions with friends of mine (with entirely different worldviews), I couldn't help but notice how high reason and rationality were being elevated in the arena of religious and philosophical speculation. It seemed logical and basic initially, but after a while I came to feel that not every question does, in fact, have any rational answer. "What is the meaning of life?" "Does God exist?" "Why does evil exist?" "Why is murder wrong?" "Why does reason itself matter?" (I realize some people may object to some of my examples, and argue that some of them do in fact have rational answers, but I hope my point is clear).

So why is reason so important? Is there any logical answer to the question? If not, what would the implications of this be?

The succinct answer is: probably not.
The extended answer explains that humans do not have free will, and that what is called logic can be shown to be as subjective as one's preference in ice cream, and that nearly all human actions ar based on instinctual needs or the demands of DNA to continue itself. On the other hand, we humans (I assume that you are one of us) have a complicated collection of rituals for survival, and rationality is one of those rituals.

Are there "rational reasons to care about rationality?" The real answer hinges on what is meant by "rationality". If you look at the opposite, then we see "irrationality", and irrational behavior does not lead toward health, wealth, and happiness.

If you are concerned with particular questions, then you might want to look, using formal logic as a tool. There are question that have no ration answer; "What is the meaning of life?" is an example of such. The exact question might have a reason for existing that is rhetorical, rather than looking for a real answer. But myou may be concerned with importance of logic as a tool for understanding. If that is the case, then I would suggest that you take a good course in logic, and you may learn reasons for its existence.

[hannah_arendt]

How do you mean by: ''why is murder wrong''?
and to answer your question it is not about the reason it is betting getting to the bottom of it. In order to understand something anything one must look for clues these might be reasons also but they are the receptors to anything we are wishing to conclude.
A reason is the motives that drive someone to go and do something.
A questions simply transmit a chain of thoughts and it is not necessarily looking for an answer as much as it is saying look what I have been thinking about. The answers one gets are what I call the leads to finding why one has formulated that though. It is just saying that our brain is active and its intelligence activated by thinking. These reactors/questions are simply what you call the wheel that energise us in order to survive life. By engaging our brains and reflecting our lives are prolonged in other words it is healthy to think asks answers and look for answer. Surviving life is not juts through food it is also through activating our brains to recharge our cells and have a normal breathing functioning body that adapts to nature and its environment. I would say reasons are part of the thinking process and are vital for our survival.

Killing is considered as wrong because if we hadn`t punished murders we wouldn`t have survived as a society for example. Because of a similar reason we don`t accept relationships between man and woman from the same family. Their children would have inherited some genetic diseases.

[The Atheist]

Killing is considered as wrong because if we hadn`t punished murders we wouldn`t have survived as a society for example.

What makes you think that?

Ffor the vast majority of human existence, there were no cops, courts or even laws.

[cacian]

Killing is considered as wrong because if we hadn`t punished murders we wouldn`t have survived as a society for example. Because of a similar reason we don`t accept relationships between man and woman from the same family. Their children would have inherited some genetic diseases.
I was just questioning why he/she questioned to be wrong. I think it is obvious taking someone's life is wrong one does not need a reason to know it is wrong. About members of the same family that is wrong too and yes genetic defect is as its core.

What makes you think that?

Ffor the vast majority of human existence, there were no cops, courts or even laws.

that is one chaotic time if one took someone's life one considered to be the norms. scary stuff.

[chrisiacovetti]

I'm sure all of us believe murder is wrong. My argument isn't that murder is permissible though - I'm arguing that there's no rational or logical reason to say it's wrong, and that anyone who believes it is wrong believes so by faith in something or another. This flies in the face of the moral atheism which generally claims to have rational grounds for morality (e.g. Sam Harris).