Preview

The Ideal Society – Reason vs. Emotions

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
393 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Ideal Society – Reason vs. Emotions
The Ideal Society – Reason vs. Emotions

An ideal society is one in which people act together as one for the greater good of the society, rather than the individual. The question is: are people to look to their emotional or rational side in determining what to act upon? The obvious answer is – reason. Where with reason, the answers are clear, emotions often cloud judgment. In a rational society, people know their place and their duty. For instance, a garbage collector may not enjoy the work he/she does, but knows that it is a vital task in society. Reason allows people live better lives through the development of technology, creating more comfortable and functioning lifestyles, and even to realize our personal human potential. If everyone were to use reason, people would know enough to be able to put the most rational people in the government (unlike the current setup), and no one would disagree (being rational people themselves). Petty fights and even wars would end in a true "Age of Reason," because the citizens know that arguments are pointless and there is no need for them. Governments (filled with the most rational people), would understand the repercussions a war has on society and that they are fought out of anger, greed, and sometimes even stupidity. Emotion (n.) a mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes. How can a society rely on emotions, to become the ideal, when emotions can be played with so easily? Imagine if someone like the president had to make an important decision on whether or not to go to war with a country that has ties with a tiny terrorist organization, that had just killed his/her child? Using reason, the president would see that war would not be the answer, and would instead find other means to stopping terrorism. With emotion, the president would most likely lash out at any country that had had ties with the terrorists. A society based on



Bibliography: www.history1700s.com www.ushistory.org www.dictionary.com

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Emotions are our motivation for everything we do, but it can also lead us into trouble when they go awry. Uncontrolled emotions cause us to act irrationally, which, more time than not, leads the characters in Shakespeare's ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to tragedy. Anger, Love, and Grief are of the most difficult to abstain from acting upon, and lead to the worse consequences.…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This writing outlines an ideal society based on justice and reason, but not on democracy. The ideal state was authoritarian.…

    • 1572 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mgt 350 Week 2 Team

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Emotions are often involved in critical thinking and in decision making, but emotions should not be the basis of decision making. Emotions are instinctive so they are strong in decision making and hard to overcome. Emotions can be stronger than rational in making a decision, but one must consider emotions and the impact they will have on the decision. If one is very emotional their critical thinking abilities decrease dramatically, and they can lose focus and control.…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The human being is composed of emotion and reason, if we maintain a balance between these two components could optimize and facilitate our life. Trying…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Norman says that “affect is a vague sensation that may be either conscious or subconscious, but emotion is the conscious experience of such affect” (Norman 55). Emotions are not the result of a forced action; emotions occur naturally. Karin Koenig agrees with this statement by saying that “feelings belong to our primitive defense system and are rooted in our collective biology and the history of the species. They are neurological, biochemical reactions that happen on a cellular level in response to stimuli. They don’t require thinking” (Koenig “How Do I Know When I Have a Feeling or an Emotion?”). Emotions are used to differentiate the moral and the corrupt; the wrong and the right. We cannot survive without our emotions and feelings because our different emotions help us distinguish the good things from the bad things. “Our emotions help us make decisions. Studies show that when a person's emotional connections are severed in the brain, he cannot make even simple decisions” (Hein “Emotions- Importance Of; Management of Negative Feelings; Positive Value of”). People whose emotional needs are not fulfilled become depressed which usually leads to their death by committing suicide(Hein “Teen Suicide”). “Teenagers around the world are killing themselves to put an end to their intense emotional pain” (Hein “Teen Suicide”). Teenagers especially need their emotional needs to be fulfilled because…

    • 1828 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Vocab List

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Emotion - A four part process that involves physiological arousal, subjective feelings, cognitive interpretation, and behavioral expressions-all of which interact, rather than occurring in a linear sequence. Emotions help organisms deal with important events.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rationalism offers a naturalistic alternative to appeals to religious accounts of human nature and conduct. During the 17th century nobody had many rights towards anything like being sent to war. It was hard to fight for freedom and rights.This is why Patrick Henry said "give me liberty or give me death". This quote from Patrick Henry means give me freedom or kill me.…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this speech he states, “I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. (Paragraph 1)” This is evidence of this ideal because he is speaking on his own behalf and not relying on religion for his sentiments. This is evident in today’s society because we as a country promote individualism self-reliance. This can be seen in personal blogs and speeches where people speak freely to present their individual self and ideas. The ideal of fair governance also makes this individualism possible because people are given the right to speak their own mind and be themselves, unlike dictatorships and oppressive governments who limit…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For thousands of years, man has unyieldingly strived to formulate a “perfect world”; an idealistic society free from dispute and destruction. Our history has exposed that a well-established society is an essential part of communication and a healthy lifestyle. However, society can also be one of the most delicate pieces of our lives. Expectations and laws seem to flow rather harmoniously when they are not tested. However, it is only when they are tested that they are likely to be shattered and are ultimately detrimental to our well-being.…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gilgamesh Personhood Essay

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    First of all, emotions can be defined as: “A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one 's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others” (Oxford Dictionaries Online, 2010). Emotions are inherent in every living creature. Emotions could arise from almost everything around us: circumstances…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emotions are feelings and the way people feel about things. Emotions are not only crying or laughing. A person's mood and their emotions are very similar, and are impacted mostly by the same type of things. The weather and climate can have serious affects on lifestyles and health. Weather can not only have an impact on where people live, but it can also affect emotions and how people feel.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Highest Good

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Another realistic account of human persons would be emotion over reason. “The ethics of care values emotion rather than rejects it at all.” (Held, 425) Held emphasizes her beliefs on emotion and reasoning throughout the text. Sympathy, empathy, sensitivity, and responsiveness are what Held believes as grown and developed. As we age and view different things throughout our lives, our feelings are reflected on and educated. Held brings up the point that anger may contribute to the moral wrong; however, raw emotion cannot be the guide to morality.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Morality and Happiness

    • 1613 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The concept of morality utilizes the individual's evaluation of events and actions to separate the good from bad and stipulates behavior consistent with the good. This means that there are socially accepted societal values that are promoted by morality. In addition, morality includes the welfare of others beyond our own selfish desires and responsibility to express the same through caring, kindness and mercy. The morality will also include commitment to honest while dealing with all people coupled with concern for their rights and ensuring justice and fair treatment. The more important fact about morality is that it provokes the emotional responses such as guilty, fear and contempt whenever one goes against the good morals (Damon 5).…

    • 1613 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to Arnold Bennet, emotion is superior to knowledge. Because our knowledge relies deeply in experiences and feelings, everything is therefore influenced by emotion. Important, world shaking events suh as the Holocaust , that changed the world , have ocurred because reason was defeated by emotion. In times of hardships many sometimes prefer to be logical to try and overcome the hardship without any emotional damagae, but end up discovering that keeping in emotions by force can result in physical and mental catastrophe. In both situations emotions end up being taken as the basis to react to the problem or situation.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Emotion seems like it should be considered in decision making, since there can be such strong sensations associated with certain decisions. Making a decision against your own emotions seems like it would be difficult to do. On the other hand, this may be why it is best to do so. Acting on emotions is more likely to be selfish and it is more likely you will oppress some party and help another. For example, most people are emotional towards their loved-ones. They want their own family and friends to succeed. If decisions were made from an emotional standpoint, it may seem to make sense to use other people who you care for less in order to benefit your own family. Kantian ethics prevents this type of action from happening. Also, it seems difficult to say we should not act emotionally towards those we love. In a loving relationship, one would expect two people to have an emotional connection and to treat one-another differently than they may treat others. This seems to be left out of the equation with Kantian ethics. To rebut that argument, it seems that ethics and an emotional relationship do not need to be completely interconnected. An emotional relationship includes things other than ethics, and ethics includes things outside of emotional relationships. Therefore, Kantian ethics can still exist in…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays