9. Reason as Large Discourse Looking Before and After

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Shakespeare’s Definition of Reason #

Reason is defined as “the ability for large discourse, looking before and after.” This definition appears in Hamlet and consists of approximately 49 words (a symbolic number related to wisdom in medieval thought). Each component reveals a different aspect of reason’s essential nature.

The Structure of the Definition #

The definition functions as a real definition composed of:

• Genus: Ability (capacity for action)
• Differentia: Large discourse, looking, before and after

Each term must be examined to understand the full meaning, as abilities are known only through their acts and uttermost capacities.

Key Arguments #

Why “Ability” Rather Than Act? #

• Abilities exist even when not exercised; reason is a capacity that can remain unused
• Abilities are distinguished and defined by their acts—particularly by the utmost of which they are capable
• Example: A man’s weightlifting ability is defined by his maximum capacity (300 lbs), not by lesser weights he can also lift
• Just as we understand sight through seeing, we understand reason through reasoning

Why “Discourse” Rather Than “Understanding”? #

• Discourse (from Latin discurrere: to run from one thing to another) has two meanings:
  1. Physical motion from one place to another
  2. Coming to know one thing through knowing other things (the proper meaning for reason)
• Discourse includes: reasoning, defining, counting, calculating
• Reasoning is most characteristic of reason—coming to know a conclusion through premises
• This distinguishes reason from sensation: the eye can perceive one object after another but doesn’t know one thing through another

Why “Large” Rather Than “Small”? #

• Shakespeare avoids limiting reason to small discourse (trivial matters) to show its full capacity
• “Large” encompasses approximately six distinct meanings:
  1. Universal scope: Discourse about what is common to many (e.g., “odd number” covers infinite instances)
  2. About great things: Discussing important matters (God, soul, immortality) vs. small talk about unimportant things
  3. Large induction: Going from many singular instances to one universal truth
  4. Large deduction: Going from one universal principle to many applications (e.g., Force = ma yields infinite calculations)
  5. Long through many steps: Reasoning requiring multiple intermediate steps (e.g., Euclid’s Pythagorean theorem requires 46 preceding propositions)
  6. Long between distant things: Reasoning connecting very disparate domains (motion to God; matter to God’s infinite ability)
• The wise man’s discourse is largest in almost all these senses
• Philosophy’s discourse is larger than other human knowledge (except possibly theology)

Why “Looking” Must Be Added? #

• “Looking” means “trying to see” or “attempting to understand”
• Without this addition, one might think discourse is reason’s ultimate end rather than understanding
• Reason’s motion is for the sake of understanding; understanding is reason’s actual rest and completion
• This prevents a merely mechanical understanding of reason’s function

Why “Before and After”? #

• These terms reveal reason’s essential property: knowing order

• Order is defined by before and after; they are convertible terms

• “Before” is equivocal by reason with multiple ordered senses:

  1. Before in time: Most sensible; what we first know (yesterday before today)
  2. Before in being: One thing can exist without another, but not vice versa (bricks before brick wall; hydrogen before water in being)
  3. Before in discourse/knowledge: What is known first in our understanding (premises before conclusions; genus before species)
  4. Before in goodness: Better, superior in excellence (Homer before other poets)
  5. Before as cause: Cause before effect (the “crowning sense” for philosophers)

• These senses are ordered by the order of knowing: we name things as we know them

• All five senses have a real distinction, not merely nominal

• Reason must look before and after in all these senses

Important Definitions #

Ability (Ἱkanότης) #

A capacity for action; known only through its acts and defined by its utmost perfection, not its lesser instances.

Discourse (from Latin discurrere) #

Coming to know one thing through knowing other things; the characteristic motion of reason through which it arrives at understanding through multiple steps.

Large #

Having multiple meanings ranging from universality and importance to comprehensiveness and distance. “Large” reveals reason’s full capacity rather than limiting it.

Looking (Theoria in Greek) #

Attempting to understand or comprehend; distinguishes reason from mere motion by showing its aim is intellectual understanding.

Before (Πρό) #

Equivocal by reason with five central senses ordered by the order of knowing. All five carry the general sense of priority but in different domains (temporal, ontological, epistemic, axiological, causal).

Order (Ὸ Taxis) #

Defined by before and after; has as many meanings as the word “before” itself. Reason’s essential property is knowing and establishing order.

Examples & Illustrations #

Discourse Examples #

• Defining: Coming to know what blank verse is through understanding its components (iambic pentameter, unrhymed)
• Reasoning: Using axioms and theorems to prove new propositions in Euclid
• Calculating: Determining total cost by adding individual prices
• Counting: Knowing a number through understanding the unit

Large Discourse Examples #

• Universal: Statement “odd number is even” applies to infinite instances
• Great things: Discussing God and soul vs. small talk about daily events
• Many steps: Euclid’s Pythagorean theorem (Proposition 47) requires working through 46 preceding propositions
• Far apart things: First proof of God’s existence proceeds from motion (least actual) to God (pure act)
• Order of beings: Aristotle’s metaphysical analysis ascending from most imperfect beings to God

Before and After Examples #

• Before in time: Letter C is written before the word “cat”
• Before in being: Letter C can exist without word “cat,” but not vice versa; hydrogen before water in being (yet after in knowledge)
• Before in knowledge: Square is known before cube; circle before sphere in geometry
• Before in goodness: Shakespeare before Chaucer in literary excellence
• Before as cause: God before creatures (can exist without them; they cannot without Him); sitting is cause of truth of “I am sitting”

Puns on Before/After #

• Romeo and Juliet: “We see the ground where all these woes do lie” (ground = earth and ground = cause)
• All’s Well That Ends Well: “Before you” understood spatially vs. “before you” meaning in preference/goodness
• Hamlet: Christ’s “Before Abraham was, I am” (not before in time but before in being)

Questions Addressed #

Why is reason called an “ability” rather than an act? #

Because reason is a capacity that exists even when not actively exercised. Abilities are more fundamental than any single act and are known through their characteristic acts, particularly their utmost perfection.

Why “discourse” rather than simple “understanding”? #

Because discourse—coming to know one thing through another—is unique to reason and distinguishes it from sensation. Many things can understand directly, but only reason must proceed through multiple steps.

Why must “large” be specified? #

Without this specification, one might misunderstand reason as capable only of small, trivial discourse. “Large” reveals reason’s full capacity for universal understanding and great matters.

Why add “looking before and after” to “large discourse”? #

Discourse alone might suggest mere motion for its own sake. Adding “looking” shows the aim is understanding. Adding “before and after” reveals that reason fundamentally seeks to know order and causality.

What does “before and after” reveal about reason’s nature? #

Reason’s essential property is knowing order in all its forms. All sciences are distinguished by the particular order they consider, and wisdom (reason’s highest perfection) orders all things by seeing causes (the crowning sense of “before”).

Why are there multiple senses of “before”? #

Because reason operates in multiple domains simultaneously: temporal, ontological, epistemic, axiological, and causal. To fully define reason, one must recognize all these dimensions of order.