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Back to HOME > IB TOK > REASON =WHAT THE TOK GUIDE HAS TO SAY ABOUT REASON= NATURE OF REASON REASON AND KNOWLEDGE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF REASON LINKING QUESTIONS ABOUT REASON
 * THE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.  Bertrand Russell (1950)  Reason is a way of knowing that involves different elements. In a very general sense, reasoning is a collective endeavour by which people construct meaning together by exchanging, modifying and improving their ideas and opinions. When someone makes a claim to know, it is legitimate to ask for reasons and to expect that these will be coherent. Arguments require consistency. Reason is perhaps as present in everyday decision making and problem solving as it is in mathematics, sciences and other areas of knowledge. The requirements of logical validity and rigour serve these various purposes. In different degrees and in different ways, it is arguable that reason has its place in many, if not all, areas of knowledge as well as in the everyday experience of individuals and the groups to which we belong. It may be worth considering how reason is used in these different domains to discover and create, to articulate, to justify and assess knowledge claims. For when disputes arise, what is at issue is not only the substance or facts of the matter, but also the appropriateness of the reasons given for acceptance of the facts, and the validity of the logical procedures used in reaching the conclusion.  The questions in this section probe the nature, value and limits of reason, and the logic that many suppose is a shared standard of evaluation.
 * PREAMBLE ON REASON FROM TOK GUIDE (2009) **