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The Uses and Limitations of Reason in Gaining Knowledge.

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The uses and limitations of Reason in gaining knowledge.

Reason is one of the main ways of knowing. To know is not just to be informed but to be critically aware of that information. Reason, as a tool, is the objective application of human cognitive ability to any and everything . Therefore,fundamental to this essay is the process of knowing anything, and the extent to which reason is applied in that knowing. I will attempt to explore one main question – ' how?' and in order to simplify, I shall attempt to put forth this exploration in the area of economics.

When we draw a graph on the cartesian plan explaining rational human behaviour, with ceteris paribus, we suppose the unreal to be able to understand the real. Beyond the irony of it all, the knower is faced with a dilemma at heart – To what extent is this actually true?

The presence of ideal and/or constant conditions and rational actors as a presupposition to explainations in economic theory from the very core – such as demand and supply- are clear examples of basing valid theories on certain assumptions. The arguments, the deductions and all inferences made from that theory– whether it is about equilibrium or social surplus – are valid. But a keen knower is bound to question the veracity of the core premise in place to know whether reason in economics is in confluence with truth or divorced from it!

To examine the premise of the rational human, I am intrigued into exploring how we firstly define, and then generalize rational behaviour.

Herein comes a roadblock – What is the universal yardstick for rational behaviour? Is there something like a metre, a gram or a second? Whereas the former is a complex psychological function, the latter is just postulation for convenience made by physical scientists. However, knowing that the object of study in economics is not an inanimate physicality but a

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