Reason vs Passion Essay

The view that reason is the superior principle and it causes an action is a fallacy. Having said this, Reason alone can never cause action. What really causes an action is a Passion to act according to what you desire to do. Reason however can be a passion’s or desire’s guide to discover the connection of the causes and effects. Reasoning as is what takes place in our mind and works in terms of experience or as a copy of a late event isn’t really what can cause an action. But since passion or desire takes place in a real world surely is the one that causes action. Reason guides the impulse to act. The fact that reason makes judgements using demonstration which never influence us to act but otherwise guide our action or the causes and effects it is not subjected to cause action. If for example in my reasoning I want to cross the road. In reasoning that I have to crossing the road, reason doesn’t tell me that there are speeding cars in the road and therefore I should wait for them. But for the fact that it is my desire not to get hit by a car I will have to wait until the cars have stopped then I can cross over. Now for the fact that it is my passion or desire not to be hit by a car it states it clear that passion have caused the whole action of crossing the road. My actions have been experimented in the real world according to my desire of crossing the road not only reason about crossing over. Passion is the cause of action. This is because whatever I desire results to the effects that I have expected. If I’m passionate to pass PHIL203 examination, then studying hard is the action that caused by the desire to pass. For I have reasoned in my mind that if I don’t study hard then I will fail, it is therefore my desire not to fail and I should study hard. The reason has been taken into account to direct or guide my action but the actual action has been caused by my desire or passion of not wanting to fail or of wanting to pass. So reason alone can never oppose passion or a desire or it can never prevent the choice of decision (volition) resulted from the will or even to question nor challenge any of my desires or passion. The reason therefore will always be seen to be the assistant or a slave of passion since it is ought to guide or direct our actions and discover the causes and effects while passion is causing the real action. But you got to have a reason to act then a passion can come in to bring the reason into real action. We just have to align with the reason why we have to act, have passion to desire or act at the centre of the reasoning idea, obey and serve our reason. But then again, we shouldn’t be ambushed that reason alone causes action because reason is just an idea in our minds and passion or desire is a real action that is taking place. If for example I have failed PHIL101 examination due to not studying hard then I have an experience of how dangerous it could be not to study. The reason doesn’t force me to study due to the experience I have or a copy of the last event or experience that resulted in not studying hard. This is so because reason is just a copy of an experience and it doesn’t influence me to act. But since reason have discovered the causes and effect and those causes and effects are effecting me I then desire not to be affected by those causes and effect and become passionate or make it my desire to pass the exam then studying is an act of passing for if I desire to pass therefore I should study which states it clear that passion is the cause of an action and a reason as the director. Passion is an original existence which means it is not based on experienced. Passion is not an idea in mind of what has happened before but it is a real event or action that takes place in a real world at any point in time. If for example I’m happy that I have passed PHIL203 examination, that emotion is not a copy or reference of any other object e. g. buying an Apple laptop. There is therefore no way in which a passion can be opposed or be contradictory to the truth or reason unless there are ideas that are not in favour or that are contradictory to the actual or real object they present. This could happen if I for example fear the effects of objects that haven’t or doesn’t exist e.g. fear to fail PHIL203 but not even registered for PHIL203 which means I fear of writing the exam of which I believe that I will write but that I will not write at all maybe again because I didn’t get a DP. In this case the belief is unreasonable not that the passion is. This is because if I have a belief of an effect to be caused by an action of which that effect will no longer take place because there was never a cause of that effect in the first place then belief becomes unreasonable since there was never a cause of any action that would lead to a strongly believed effect. The belief of writing an examination is unreasonable if I’m not registered for the module. If we reason incorrectly about causes and effects then it can lead to our passion being unreasonable again. If there is no false belief or incorrect reasoning about causes and effects then there is no way a passion can be unreasonable. If then I’m registered for PHIL203, got a DP, studying hard, have an experience of what happens if I don’t study hard then there is no way in which passion can be unreasonable therefore it is impossible for passion and reason to oppose each other for the control of will and action. If Stefan denies me a DP then my desire or a belief of writing an exam stops then I shouldn’t bother studying. This means if the belief is false then I must stop caring about an action I desired to take. There are those desires that don’t produce any strongly felt emotion. These kinds of desires concerned the most with what really happening or going on into our minds. It has been argued that these desires are the same as reason but that is quit not true. For the fact that it takes place in our minds doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cause an action. If it was reason alone it wasn’t going to cause any action but for the fact that it is a desire but a calm one, it is subjected to cause action. I don’t really care if my friends fail PHIL203 examination but it is not my desire to see my friends failing. Now for that calm desire I have in mind will cause an action whereby I form a study group with my friends. But then again in the opposite of calm desires there are those desires which produce a strongly felt emotion. These desires are violent in nature. If I have failed PHIL203 examination knowing exactly that I have studied hard and the paper was easy for me will cause an action of being angry with whoever marked my paper and I might even want to see my examination script. Whatever a situation might be a reason will never influence a cause of action but the Passion and the desires we have are the one that cause action. Reason will be a guide or a slave of passion.