Reason Comes From Reckoning
Reason is the capacity to think logically. It descends from the Latin for calculation, alongside ratio and ration.
Reason is the power of thinking logically, and also a cause or justification. It comes from Latin *ratio*, a reckoning, which links thinking with counting: to reason is to calculate. The Age of Reason took its name from that confidence, and *rational* and *ratio* are its close relatives.
- The power of logical thought. *The age of reason.*
- A cause or justification. *A good reason.*
- To think logically. *Reason it through.*
- Stand to reason — be obvious. *It stands to reason.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | reason | Sound reason. |
| Plural | reasons | Several reasons. |
| Verb | reason | Reason with him. |
| Adjective | reasonable | A reasonable offer. |
| Related | rational | A rational argument. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Reason and ration share a root.Latin *ratio*.
- The reason is that, not the reason is because.A common redundancy.
- Reasonable doubt is a legal standard.In criminal trials.
Kinds of reasoning
- Deductive — conclusions follow necessarily from premises
- Inductive — generalising from observations
- Abductive — inferring the best explanation
- Analogical — reasoning from similarity
- Fallacy — an error in the form of an argument
From Old French *raison*, from Latin *rationem*, a reckoning, from *reri*, to calculate.
Is *the reason is because* wrong?
It is redundant, since reason already carries the sense of because. Careful writing prefers *the reason is that*.
Deductive or inductive?
Deductive reasoning guarantees the conclusion if the premises hold. Inductive reasoning makes it probable, not certain.