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Chapter 4: A Substantive Reason
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125 4 A Substantive Reason I have argued that reason is substantive because it is an aspect of a socially and historically embodied tradition. Given this, the relation between substantive reason (the standards of reason) and the good must be spelled out by delving into particular traditions, which is the task of this chapter. This task has as its telos forging a path out of the modern impasse to a genuinely emancipatory substantive reason. Failure to explain clearly the connection between reason and the good will jeopardize this telos and the possibility of a critical theory of society. After first reviewing the distinctions between rationality, substantive reason, and reasons, I will discuss in turn tradition, the good, reason, and the mutually constitutive nature of reason and the good. Formal Rationality, Substantive Reason, and Reasons I have maintained a clear distinction between reason and rationality . “Rationality” names the kind of reason that focuses on means and ends, that categorizes, or that lays out the relations between concepts . That is, “rationality” refers generally to those processes of the individual mind through which an individual classifies objects and events and thinks in an instrumental fashion. This type of reasoning includes traditional logical principles, such as the principle of noncontradiction and modus ponens. Substantive reason, in contrast, names the whole toolbox of reasoning within a tradition. As stated in the previous chapter, substantive reason comprises thinking about and acting on the set of standards and R E A S o N , T R A D I T Io N , A N D T H E G o o D 126 beliefs of a particular social order. As discussed, the social practices of reason involve standards and exemplars of reasoning. These standards and exemplars constitute an element of the tradition or disciplinary matrix. As such, they are informed by the other aspects of the tradition, including the values and symbolic generalizations, the general social practices and ways of life, and the larger cosmology—in short, everything included in Table 3.1 in the previous chapter. In turn, they provide reasons for those same aspects and allow members of the tradition to evaluate those aspects. This chapter will examine these relationships in detail for several traditions. Exemplars of reason—of giving and asking for reasons—might include a scientific method or the Zande poison oracle, or the method a judge uses in deciding a case. Contemplating these exemplars reveals essential features of all exemplars. First, all exemplars of reason are socially established procedures. Second, they comprise procedures that model a kind of thinking for specific situations. Thus, whereas a scientific method is used for specific scientific or experimental situations, the Zande poison oracle is appropriate for situations in which mystical forces are expected or thought to be at work. Third, exemplars have different social functions: whereas, for instance, the scientific method has the function of producing a verifiable empirical result, and the Zande poison oracle functions to determine the presence of magic in a situation , the legal method functions to determine guilt or justice. Fourth, these procedures justify their own results. Because exemplars are socially established, they have been tested by society and/or at least accepted by society as how one should reason. If one uses one of these methods to provide reasons for one’s actions or beliefs in their contexts, then the results of those methods in those contexts are accepted as legitimate . To question those results would be to question the exemplar itself and, thus, to question their social legitimacy and use. Unlike substantive reason, reasons are not practices. They are neither methods nor procedures, are not limited to specific situations, have more than one function, and do not by their nature and function automatically justify the results of the activity. A reason is simply a statement that is meant to justify a specific action, belief, or the like. A reason is anything which one thinks will justify one’s actions or beliefs to others. [3.238.12.0] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 05:37 GMT) A Substantive Reason 127 Some reasons are socially established—that is, one can feel certain that one’s use of them in particular situations is right and will be accepted by others. In deciding a case, for example, a judge refers to other cases—other socially sanctioned reasons for a decision. A judge might find a reason in a prior court case, for example, that evidence obtained from a forced plea is tainted. The judge...