
“Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals.”
Source: The Works Of Alexander Hamilton
Letter (16 April 1802)
“Men are reasoning rather than reasonable animals.”
Source: The Works Of Alexander Hamilton
As reported by Alexander Polyhistor, and Diogenes Laërtius in Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, "Pythagoras", Sect. 30, in the translation of C. D. Yonge (1853)
“Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.”
Letter to John Benson (5 October 1770); published in Wesley's Select Letters (1837), p. 207
1770s
The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), I : The Man of Flesh and Bone
Context: Man is said to be a reasoning animal. I do not know why he has not been defined as an affective or feeling animal. Perhaps that which differentiates him from other animals is feeling rather than reason. More often I have seen a cat reason than laugh or weep. Perhaps it weeps or laughs inwardly — but then perhaps, also inwardly, the crab resolves equations of the second degree.
“Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason.”
Letter to John Benson (5 October 1770); published in Wesley's Select Letters (1837), p. 207
General sources
Context: Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason. It is our part, by religion and reason joined, to counteract them all we can.
Section 2 : Religion
Founding Address (1876), Life and Destiny (1913)
The Art of Persuasion