Silver Kayondo; Promoting use of reason in Society

This journal entry seeks to advance ways or mechanisms how the use of reason can be promoted in society basing on readings from John Finnis and Thomistic tradition. “Reason”, just like all indefinite concepts, is hard to define. It is better described, as connoting to a use of the human mental faculties in terms of logic, intuition, a premise of an argument, basis of an act or decision (practical reason) or a given set of beliefs and convictions (theoretical or speculative reason) On the other hand, “society” may be taken to mean a mass of people under the same territory, authority, sharing certain beliefs, culture, tradition, beliefs and social interaction. Throughout the web of the aforementioned works, one traces the concept of “practical reasonabless”, one of the core dissections of this paper. I will therefore humbly submit that in my humble opinion, use of reason can be promoted in the following ways. 1. Constant pursuit of knowledge (both formal and informal) through study, education, scholarship and all other relevant ways. This not only creates awareness about the individuals in a given society, but also exposes practices, cultures, and beliefs from other societies as well. This can create new ways of thinking to solve problems prevalent in a given society, and take full advantage of existing opportunities. 2. Evaluation and analysis of societal facts/phenomena (political, social, economic, cultural, etc) can also be a great avenue to stimulate the use of reason in a given society. This can be postured through observations, literal works, music, and all avenues that can be discerned by human reason. It is in a way, going beyond and unveiling the good, the bad, the folly, delusions, or the richness in a given society’s beliefs, habits, practices, norms, traditions, etc. This offers a challenge to existing ways/modes of doing things, or habits (reasonable and unreasonable) that tare prevalent in a given society and may influence rethinking of new strategies, suggestion of new solutions and attitudinal change. 3. Reason can also be promoted through upholding good. It has long been said that in human affairs and interactions, “good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.” By creating a just system that rewards those who do good, and punishing those that do evil, and harm society, good reason and sanity are the emphasis. 4. Related to the above, human Law is also one avenue that can be exploited (if used justly) to influence and promote the use of reason in a given society. Finnis sees this as a means which both the leaders and the led/citizens see and believe in to be the rules for guidance. If the law (in Finnis’ understanding, what a law morally ought to be), has the same force on the both the leaders and citizens, then reason and sanity will be promoted with key emphasis on virtue, accountability and service of the “common good”. 5. Reason can also be promoted through formation of common and agreed upon moral and value principles to be observed by a certain society. These help form the core of a societal fabric through concern for others, fighting against self-interest, and promoting common interest. It has long been said that “good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.” 6. Planning can also promote use of reason in a given societal setting. Rational plan of a society’s life, common objectives and resource utilization involves use of rational processes so as to effectively suggest concrete plans and proposals necessary to drive a given societal attain its societal goals, objectives, dreams and aspirations. A lot of societies world-wide have economic, social, and political development plans to buttress this assertion. 7. Reason can also be promoted through engagement of society members at various levels of project design, implementation and assessment. This would challenge them to think of new ways of improving on the weak department, and how to perfect the good ones. It is wise to engage the people in ventures that will expose those members to new experiences, new environments and trigger their mental faculties to find practical and reasonable solutions to deal with prevailing problems and challenges. 8. Finally, action is one of the most practical ways to stimulate and promote the use of reason. Action helps to determine new plans and thinking strategies compatible with new challenges, remedy deficiencies, system breakdowns and empower those engaged with confidence in their solutions (if plans and strategies are working and making systems better) In a nutshell, the above are some of the ways how use of reason can be promoted in society. Constant reasoning, through thinking, re-thinking, learning, re-learning and unlearning is a great tool to reach very practical and reasonable and intelligible choices, decisions, and solutions.