Reason is the capacity for
consciously making sense of things, applying
logic, establishing and verifying
facts, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and
beliefs based on new or existing information. It is closely associated with such characteristically
human activities as
philosophy,
science,
language,
mathematics, and
art and is normally considered to be a definitive characteristic of
human nature. The concept of reason is sometimes referred to as
rationality and sometimes as
discursive reason, in opposition to
intuitive reason.