| dc.description.abstract | In their work The Faces of Reason: An Essay on Philosophy and
Culture in English Canada 1850-1950, Leslie Armour and Elizabeth
Trott consider that the Canadian way of doing philosophy uses
reason in an accommodationist manner. I propose in this thesis that
William Lyall's Intellect, the Emotions and the Moral Nature
represents a splendid example of the accommodationist use of
reason.
The Maritimes philosopher advances the idea that emotions
have a cognitive value, a claim which I support by trying to put
Lyall's ideas in a modern framework offered by French philosopher
Jean Paul Sartre. Latent in Lyall's work can also be found a theory
of metaphor which I try to revive with the help of French
philosopher Paul Ricoeur.
Thus, following Lyall, emotions and reason are always in a
balance and they work together in order to give us a more
consistent and fuller grasp of reality. | |
