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What is the difference between reason and cause?

reason | cause |

Cause is a synonym of reason.

Cause is a conjunction of reason.



In obsolete terms the difference between reason and cause

is that reason is something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice while cause is any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.

As nouns the difference between reason and cause

is that reason is a cause while cause is the source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.

As verbs the difference between reason and cause

is that reason is to exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts while cause is to set off an event or action.

reason

English

(wikipedia reason)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A cause:
  • # That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.
  • #* 1996 , (w), : Evolution and the Meanings of Life , page 198:
  • There is a reason why so many should be symmetrical: The selective advantage in a symmetrical complex is enjoyed by all the subunits
  • # A motive for an action or a determination.
  • #* 1806 , Anonymous, Select Notes to Book XXI, in, (Alexander Pope), translator, The (Odyssey) of (Homer) , volume 6 (London, F.J. du Roveray), page 37:
  • This is the reason why he proposes to offer a libation, to atone for the abuse of the day by their diversions.
  • #* 1881 , (Henry James), (The Portrait of a Lady) , chapter 10:
  • Ralph Touchett, for reasons best known to himself, had seen fit to say that Gilbert Osmond was not a good fellow
  • # An excuse: a thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation.
  • #* 1966 , (Graham Greene), ((Penguin Classics) edition, ISBN 0140184945), page 14:
  • I have forgotten the reason' he gave for not travelling by air. I felt sure that it was not the correct ' reason , and that he suffered from a heart trouble which he kept to himself.
  • (label) Rational]] thinking (or the capacity for it; the cognitive [[faculty, faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.
  • * 1970 , (Hannah Arendt), On Violence (ISBN 0156695006), page 62:
  • And the specific distinction between man and beast is now, strictly speaking, no longer reason (the lumen naturale of the human animal) but science
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason . The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.}}
  • (label) Something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.
  • * (rfdate) (Edmund Spenser):
  • I was promised, on a time, To have reason for my rhyme.
  • Ratio; proportion.
  • (Barrow)

    Synonyms

    * (that which causes) cause * (motive for an action) rationale, motive * (thought offered in support) excuse

    Derived terms

    * age of reason * everything happens for a reason * for some reason * for no good reason * for XYZ reason * have reason * in reason * instrumental reason * reasonability * reasonable * reasonableness * reasonist * reasonless * rhyme or reason * stand to reason * unreason * with reason * within reason

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts.
  • Hence: To carry on a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to formulate and set forth propositions and the inferences from them; to argue.
  • To converse; to compare opinions.
  • To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.
  • I reasoned the matter with my friend.
  • (rare) To support with reasons, as a request.
  • To persuade by reasoning or argument.
  • to reason''' one into a belief; to '''reason one out of his plan
  • To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.
  • to reason down a passion
  • To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.
  • to reason''' out the causes of the librations of the moon

    Derived terms

    * reasoner * reason out

    Statistics

    *

    cause

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
  • Her wedding will be cause for celebration.
    They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.}}
  • A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
  • * Shakespeare
  • God befriend us, as our cause is just.
  • * Burke
  • The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause .
  • (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
  • * Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
  • I did it not for his cause .
  • (obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
  • * Shakespeare
  • What counsel give you in this weighty cause ?
  • (legal) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action.
  • Synonyms

    * (source or reason) reason, source

    Derived terms

    * because * causal * causality * causative * cause celebre * efficient cause * final cause * for cause (law) * formal cause * material cause

    See also

    * effect

    Verb

    (caus)
  • To set off an event or action.
  • *
  • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic
  • To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
  • * Bible, (w) vii.4
  • I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
  • * , chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
  • To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
  • (Spenser)

    Derived terms

    * causation

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English control verbs ----