S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 5 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 9 1 3 Michal Kutáš 1 Introduction Whether we are aware of it or no, many of us understand reason as some kind of divine entity. It seems to be as if omnipresent, absolute and objective – not a mere biological faculty of a biological organism. In this paper, I would like to present an alternative approach, an approach which will place reason, as well as its kindred – logic, language and their respective imagination – among the equipment of one species of biological organism, which evolved on this Earth under the curatorship – at least to a significant degree – of genes and Earth’s environment. I am not saying that we are only this material organism or that traditionally understood evolution was the sole origin of our biology, but we certainly are at least partly biological organisms and evolution understood in this way can clearly tell us much about our biological design. When we normally use reason – not understanding fully to this day what it really is, in my opinion – we have a tendency to apply it to every problem which we face. But is the use of reason always appropriate? If reason is similar to other faculties, capacities and abilities of us as biological organisms, it should not be applicable successfully to all problem situations. Let us consider, for example, our faculty of sight – it can be used successfully in many situations, but by no means in all. For example, if there is not enough light, or if we are to find out some properties of things which cannot be revealed by our eyes, sight will be of no avail to us. Or take our hands. We can do many things with them, but they certainly have their limits and not all problems can be solved with the help of them. Because of their physical magnitude, shape, structure, functional possibilities and sensory equipment, they are quite limited. If the reason – and logic, language and so on – are also biological like our sight and hands, here too we can expect serious limitations. Let us look to the matter more deeply. Since the reason stems and originates in some sense and partly from our sensory apparatus, let us investigate it first. Reason and biological sensory equipment are deeply related and dependent on each other in ways not apparent at the first glance. About the author Mgr. Ing. Michal Kutáš, PhD., is a philosopher interested in spirituality, both current and traditional. His published works include articles on the issues of free will, identity, logic, science, evolution and spirituality, as well as translations of philosophical texts from English to Slovak. His email address is michal.kutas@gmail.com.
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