Critique: Reason is the slave of the passions

             In order to properly critique the quote "Reason is the slave of the passions", by renowned philosopher David Hume, we must first examine the definitions of what we perceive as reason, slaves, and passions, and why we perceive them as such. Each term takes on an automatic, assumed quality by most American college-age students. These assumptions are part of our pre-wired, conditioned mental state. The intuition shared by me and my peers, as American college-age students (generally 17-24 years of age) has been created by drastic measures of social dependency and precognate growth. If it were not for these confines, which surround our society and force many of the views expressed by my peers and I, the human race, as a whole, would progress much more rapidly in many fields of knowledge. Thus, in order to effectively reach the comprehension level of the majority of persons associated with my age group, I shall begin at the most basic levels of understanding each concept within the quote, and proceed to explain the terms in relation to one another.
             First, we must examine the common definition of "reason", and then look at its social implications. Reason can be defined as the intellectual ability to apprehend the truth cognitively, either immediately in intuition, or by means of a process of inference. Most people consider reason to be the main force we, as human beings, use in the thought process. "Man's possession of reason shows itself not only in his ability to think, but also in his ability to control by thought and principle his desires and conduct" said Aristotle. It not only distinguishes us from other species of animals on this planet, but also gives us extra capabilities, which in turn allow us to retain the title of the "predominant species on Earth".
             Secondly, we must examine the implied definition of "the passions". A common definition of passion can be considered the state or capacity of being acted on by exter...

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