Noun | 1. | reason - a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration" Synonyms: ground |
2. | reason - an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon; "the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly" | |
3. | reason - the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination; "we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil" Synonyms: intellect, understanding | |
4. | reason - the state of having good sense and sound judgment; "his rationality may have been impaired"; "he had to rely less on reason than on rousing their emotions" Synonyms: rationality, reasonableness | |
5. | reason - a justification for something existing or happening; "he had no cause to complain"; "they had good reason to rejoice" | |
6. | reason - a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion; "there is reason to believe he is lying" | |
Verb | 1. | reason - decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion; "We reasoned that it was cheaper to rent than to buy a house" Synonyms: conclude, reason out |
2. | reason - present reasons and arguments Synonyms: argue | |
3. | reason - think logically; "The children must learn to reason" |
REASON. By reason is usually understood that power by which we distinguish
truth from falsehood, and right from wrong; and by which we are enabled to
combine means for the attainment of particular ends. Encyclopedie, h.t.;
Shef. on Lun. Introd. xxvi. Ratio in jure aequitas integra.
2. A man deprived of reason is not criminally responsible for his acts,
nor can he enter into any contract.
3. Reason is called the soul of the law; for when the reason ceases,
the law itself ceases. Co. Litt. 97, 183; 1 Bl. Com. 70; 7 Toull. n. 566.
4. In Pennsylvania, the judges are required in giving their opinions,
to give the reasons upon which they are founded. A similar law exists in
France, which Toullier says is one of profound wisdom, because, he says, les
arrets ne sont plus comme autre fois des oracles muets qui commandent une
obeissance passive; leur autorite irrefragable pour ou contre ceux qui les
ont obtenus, devient soumise a la censure de la raison, quand on pretend les
eriger en regles a suivre en d'autres cas semblables, vol. 6, n. 301;
judgments are not as formerly silent oracles which require a passive
obedience; their irrefragable authority, for or against those who have
obtained them, is submitted to the censure of reason, when it is pretended
to set them up as rules to be observed in other similar cases. But see what
Duncan J. says in 14 S. & R. 240.