Project Gutenberg 2005-02-14 Public domain in the USA. 1652 Santayana, George 1863 1952 Santayana, Jorge Santayana, Georgius The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Reason Introduction -- v. 1. Reason in common sense -- v. 2. Reason in society -- v. 3. Reason in religion -- v. 4. Reason in art -- v. 5. Reason in science. E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Garrett Alley, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team. Revised by David Widger and Richard Tonsing "The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress" by George Santayana is a philosophical treatise written in the late 19th century. This work explores the development of human thought and reason as fundamental aspects of progress, tying together concepts from art, ethics, and science into a cohesive narrative about human nature and existence. The opening of the book lays the groundwork by addressing the essential role of reason in understanding human experience. Santayana presents the idea that existence is marked by a chaotic order, which the human mind attempts to make sense of through reflective thought. He introduces the concept of "the Life of Reason" as a synthesis of impulse and thought, emphasizing that true progress must involve a rational understanding coupled with the evaluations of our experiences. The subsequent sections outline the evolution of reason from instincts to more complex forms of consciousness, highlighting how early human experiences shape the development of moral and aesthetic values. In doing so, Santayana sets the stage for a detailed analysis of reason as the driving force behind human progress. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 45.9 (College-level). Difficult to read. en Philosophy B Text Category: Philosophy & Ethics 2268013 2025-07-06T12:01:09.090621 text/html 2303623 2021-04-11T03:32:56 text/html 1068081 2025-07-06T12:01:24.334519 application/epub+zip 1121782 2025-07-06T12:01:10.665611 application/epub+zip 926574 2025-07-06T12:01:09.920595 application/epub+zip 1584048 2025-07-06T12:01:35.312432 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1515300 2025-07-06T12:01:23.686479 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1320611 2022-09-07T19:25:28.386883 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1998640 2025-07-06T12:01:07.137586 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 1998513 2021-04-11T03:31:13 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18745 2025-07-06T12:01:35.459420 application/rdf+xml 17791 2025-07-06T12:01:10.056592 image/jpeg 2382 2025-07-06T12:01:09.989588 image/jpeg 736006 2021-04-11T03:34:28 application/octet-stream application/zip 1083431 2021-04-11T03:34:57 application/octet-stream application/zip 1077177 2025-07-06T12:01:09.256561 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia