The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment is claimed to have ushered in the age of reason. And to give credit where its due it did bring some relief to the plight of many people. It also fed the appetite for revolution against the authority of self-appointed political and religious rulers. But there was a dark side of the Enlightenment which remains to this day. There were essentially two broad philosophical camps in this new way of thinking. The first claimed that knowledge could be attained when reason is applied to our experiences in life as they are processed through our physical senses. In philosophical-speak this was called empiricism. Basically it means that we make it up as we go along. The other camp claimed that the application of reason alone was sufficient to acquire knowledge because knowledge was an innate attribute of human beings. But unlike Buddhism for example they could not explain the precise mental technique to be applied in order to access this knowledge other than the application of reason of course. These were called the rationalists.Utilitarianism
Along with the Enlightenment there was a parallel philosophy developing across the sea in England also claimed to be rooted in the application of reason. It was championed by that most pernicious of philosophers a certain Jeremy Bentham. Bentham claimed to have made the revolutionary discovery that human beings prefer pleasure to pain. So he devised a philosophy centered on maximizing pleasure and avoiding pain. This became known as Utilitarianism.Immanuel Kant the Hybrid Philosophy
Immanuel Kant probably one of the few philosophers the average person could identify if asked to name a philosopher blended these various camps to create a hybrid philosophy. Essentially he claimed that practical reason makes known to human beings a moral law which when violated makes even the boldest sinner tremble. But he couldnt identify what this moral law was. So he simply asserted that it was presented to us for our obedience. But that did not mean that we shouldnt also seek pleasure and avoid pain. We only need to curtail our appetite for pleasure when it offends the moral law. Thats what practical reason tells us.The Reason Delusion
Now all these philosophers got so puffed up with vanityii at their new discoveries that we could be forgiven for wondering whether they had invented some brand new way of thinking by applying reason. Kant even discovered two distinct kinds of reason - pure reason and practical reason. Reason thus became the new religion. Instead of invoking the authority of the divine or royal blood to impose their will and beliefs on others the new rationalists invoke their superior ability to reason. Reason is the rhetorical weapon wielded to attack those who disagree with them. But the fact is reason on its own account tells us nothing.The Human Brain
The human brain comprises three broad faculties each made up of neurological networks instinct morality and reason. Humans share most of the primitive instincts possessed by animals such as the instincts for reproduction survival and security. But they also have a number of peculiarly human instincts such as the instinct to understand how the world works. This latter instinct improves the human ability to service the more primitive carnal instincts. For example knowing how to cast iron helped humans to hunt better and to better dispose of perceived threats.Pleasure and Pain
All these human instincts are activated by the prospect of pleasure or the fear of pain. And thats where reason comes in. When some or other instinct dangles before reason the promise of pleasure or the risk of pain reason springs into action. It devises ways to maximize pleasure and eliminate so far as possible the risk of suffering pain. Animals do the same of course. But here is the difference. Once animals have satisfied the urge for pleasure or eliminated a perceived threat they move on. Not humans. With their enhanced capacity to reason they devise all manner of mischief to service their insatiable appetite for pleasure and to eliminate even the remotest threat to their survival security or indulgence in pleasure. Reason in the service of primitive human instinct has caused human beings to inflict the most unspeakable atrocities degradations and humiliations upon their fellow human beings mostly without a hint of remorse. It accounts for war betrayal slavery poverty starvation genocide child abuse greed deceit murder. In short it accounts for everything we call evil. And we find it everywhere from the playground to the corridors of power; and especially in the corridors of power.The Moral Network
But there is hope. And that hope comes in the form of a moral network within the human brain. The moral network acts as a restraint on instinct by appealing for an audience with reason. If granted a hearing the moral network counsels reason to resist over-indulging the demands of our primitive instincts. It can even counsel suppressing primitive instinct entirely by renouncing pleasure and courting pain. But thats for the saints. For the rest of us activating the neurological moral network on a sufficiently wide scale is the only real hope for the future. But it will require a supreme effort because catering to the demands of our primitive instincts has become a twisted kind of virtue.Modern Context
There are encouraging signs however. There are signs that people are beginning to see through the fog of deception. They are beginning to recognize that reason is not the preserve of a select few. And they are beginning to realize that reason is not some supernatural force that can elevate human beings to new heights of enlightenment and civilization. They are becoming wise to the reason delusion. What is really happening is that the neurological moral network is awakening in many people. And that awakening directly challenges the cozy alliance between reason and instinct. The internal struggle within each of us to escape from bondage to our primitive instincts is also playing out in the political and economic arena as a struggle by the people to escape from bondage to political and corporate servitude. In every sense it is becoming a battle between good and evil. Perhaps it is even nearing the final battle. The outcome will determine the future of humanity. But we should be in no doubt that the forces of reason in service to primitive instinct will stop at nothing to get their way. The dark side of the Enlightenment has served them well and they intend to hang on to it at any cost. Now this may all sound very apocalyptic. But we should not underestimate the irrationality of reason in the service of primitive instinct. Neither should we underestimate the rage of a neurological moral network that has been deceived abused and violated for too long. The battle lines have been drawn. The first skirmishes are under way. What happens next is anyones guess. Either way its going to get very ugly. Copyright © Joseph BH McMillan 2016 All Rights Reserved. Notes i Adapted from the jurist Alf Ross on justice. ii A description of scientists by Albert Schweitzer.