Reason and Empirical Science

📋 Course Outline

1. Relative and Absolute Statements
2. Reason, Rationality, and Demonstration
3. Limits of Demonstrative Reasoning
4. Reason as a Source of Error
5. Discussion Against Solitary Reason
6. Empirical Science and Causality

📖 1. Relative and Absolute Statements

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Relative statement : depends on the context of utterance, such as the date indicated by “today.”
• Absolute statement : does not depend on the context of utterance, as in “Thursday 10 September 2026.”

💡 Memory Hook

Relative depends on context; absolute does not.

📖 2. Reason, Rationality, and Demonstration

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Reason : our capacity to reason.
• Rationality : acting according to logical reasons rather than reacting to feelings and showing moderation.
• Demonstration : a valid reasoning process in which the conclusion necessarily follows from the premises.

★ Must-know

📌 A reason can be a cause that triggers a phenomenon or explains an event, or it can be the end or objective that justifies a behavior.

Further detail

• In Euclid’s Property 32, the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180°.

💡 Memory Hook