Understanding the role of reason, in humanism and life. Published on April 22, 2012 by David Niose in Our Humanity, Naturally  

As any lawyer knows, in determining whether a defendant has acted negligently, courts will usually consider an accident from the standpoint of an “ordinary reasonable man” (or, in modern times, the more gender-neutral “ordinary reasonable person”). Did the defendant operate his motor vehicle as an ordinary reasonable man, similarly situated, would have? If so, then he was not negligent.

The hypothetical “ordinary reasonable man” is sometimes the subject of joking among lawyers, since such a personality, someone who is reasonable in all situations, is not only an impossibility, but undesirable as well. “Consider for a moment what it would be like to be married to this mythical reasonable man,” my torts professor once mused.

Indeed, we rarely think of dispassionate reason when we ponder matters of attraction. Both sexes know that reason is not what usually drives desire, even if an intellectual connection might often be a factor. Few men have fallen asleep into dreams of Angelina Jolie saying, “Romance me, you reasonable man!”

To read the rest of the article on Psychology Today, click here.