Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-20
THE LIFE OF REASON
By DR.. Frank Crane

Whatever one may think of Mr.. George
Santayana and his philosophy there can
hardly be any question that he is one of
the frst-class minds of this generation, and
that when he speaks it behooves all of us
who respect intelligence to be quiet and
listen.
His great work in five volumes, "The Life
of Reason" has just reached its second edi-
ton after twenty years. Those who pursue
the pleasures of thought and admire ideas
as others do mountains and shows, will find
great entertainment here. 1t is by no means
pap or spoon victuals but good hard food
and minds in their milk teeth are not ad-
vised to try it.
But I am inclined to think that no one
can get a comprehensive and correct idea
of the thought of this age without being
familiar with Santayana any more than he
can hope for such thing without familiarity
with the thought of William James, John
Dewey and H. G. Wells.
There is one saying of Santayana's that
has kept following me for some time, one
idea of his book which like a friendly dog
has left The pack and for some reason has
been at my heels. 1t is this:
mature has coVe forward and the life
of reason, which then held the center of the
stage, has receded."
The then" refers presumably to twenty
years ago. The experience to which he here
confesses is common to most of us as well
as characteristic of the age we live in
The business of reasoning is I think car
ried on as well today as in any period of
the past, probably we reason even better
now than did the thinkers of former times.
But perhaps our ratiOnalizing has improved
for the simple reason that we considerably
distrust it, while our predecessors had a
faith in it that was often fanatical
SO many things that are not true have
been so perfectly proved by logic that we
cannot be blamed for being little sus-
picious of the logic machine.
Reason" says Bertrand Russell, "has it's
place in life, but that place is perhaps not
paramount. If our reason were divine we
could worship it and let it rule us; but
1t is human and liable to err. To respect
it unduly is to retard progress. even in
tellectual progress"
The workable truth about this matter
seems to be that while we should value our
reason and not insult it, and while we can
hardly retain our self-respect unless we let
1T have its say and give it respectful atten-
ton, at the same time we should always
keep it in check and correct it by the in
stincts
The instincts may be said to be Natures
reasoning. Unless we consider them duly
and keep coming back to them we are
liable, if we follow logic blindly, to wander
off in the jungle.
The higher reasoning is not mere expert
ness in the game of logic, which the author
OF Alice in Wonderland reminds us is but
game and can be played by counters as
one plays checkers but consists in constantly
realizing that man is not only proud spirit
but also a humble animal and should take
account Of his whole nature of all the
facts and laws revealed by science, and of
those deep and mysterious forces within
him which he is compelled to use although
he has never been able fully to understand
them.
Copyright, 1929