Emotion Is The Enemy Of Reason

Humans will always have a capacity to feel emotion in difficult situations. This emotional connection can occasionally make it more difficult to use intellect and rationality in tenacious decision-making circumstances. It is also believed that emotion is the enemy of reason, however emotional intelligence is needed to thrive. This is extremely contradictory because it means that all humans need some kind of emotional connection and intelligence to be successful, therefore emotion cannot be the enemy of reason. In the legal system, it is expected that lawyers, jurors’, and judges are exceedingly unbiased and emotionally disconnected throughout the entire case, although it is almost impossible to prevent being swayed by emotion. There have been …show more content…
There are moments where his ability to feel emotion is questioned. For example, at Meursault’s mother’s funeral when Meursault does not cry or show any emotion, or when Marie asks him if he loves her and Meursault responds by saying that it doesn’t mean anything. This can lead the reader to wonder whether that emotional detachment affects his ability to use reason. In a way, being emotionally detached can cause you to be more intellectually rational however there are situations that emotional reason is also needed as well. Since Meursault has that emotional detachment, in that kind of situations—such as the moment he made the decision to shoot the Arab—it can lead him into making the wrong decisions. Meursault’s ability to use reason may be effected when the situations are the kinds that need to be emotionally debated because he is not sufficiently connected. Yet, when there is a situation that being emotionally disconnected is seen as strength, Meursault’s ability to use reason is not affected because it is natural for him to be disconnected. It all depends on what kind of situation there …show more content…
In Meursault’s case, it is difficult to decide whether his emotions lead him into killing the Arab, or if he saw it as the only rational thing to do in that situation. When Meursault and Raymond are confronted by a group of Arabs, Meursault seems to show some emotional and rational intellect since he tells Raymond not to shoot unless they take out a knife. This leads the reader to believe that Meursault killed the Arab out of self-defense. However, as the author approaches the moment when Meursault shoots the Arab, Albert Camus uses apostrophe and personification to address the sun as though it was what leads Meursault into killing the Arab. Albert Camus makes it seem as though the sun was pressuring him into it. Meursault appeared to be emotionally frustrated with the sun and this caused him to have a mental breakdown and shoot the Arab once, and then four more times at the Arabs lifeless body. This is how the reader concludes that Meursault does have an emotional connection with the world around