Kant's Theory Of Reason Essay

When it comes to the use of emotion in relation to reason within the Enlightenment, at first glance, Kant’s definition of reason lacks any mention of it. However, in an article by Chad Wellmon, Kant suggests there is a connection between feeling and reason, and therefore reason is not only restricted to the intellect. What does it mean for reason to affect a feeling (or vice versa)? Kant suggests that “all feeling is sensual, and thus determined by natural causality, but on the other hand, he says that respect is a feeling effected through reason” (Wellmon 566). The article goes further to say that Kant compares these subjective feelings to the distinction that men make between right and left—which allows us to spatially place ourselves. In the same manner, Kant is making the connection that men are able to separate …show more content…
She goes further to explain his theory, which explains there is a sense of pleasure, which can be experiences even if there was no former, present desire for it. In this manner, it is applicable to Nathan the Wise through the character of Recha, the adoptive daughter of Nathan and her thirst to explore more of the world; as well as the prejudice and religious tensions that Lessing sought to combat. The champions of Enlightenment believed in reason as a possible solution to dogma, superstition, and unwanted social prejudices. In Nathan the Wise, we see the fight against the stereotypes and prejudice, which is defined by psychologists as an “unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group” (McLeod). Lessing sought to combat these religious prejudices by creating an environment within Nathan the Wise where members of these religions could be treated with the respect that their cultural belief deserved, through the use