There is a “why” to everything. To focus upon a fold-point of experience is signaled by “because” in the normal course of conversation. Also, you could say this mirrors the form of logic, an “if”… “then” syllogism of cause and effect. Is this what is meant by reason? I’ll concede that such is a very big dimension of what is meant by “reason”. 

Clearly reason is limited though. Human beings do not all subscribe to the same “issue” of reason. Many varieties of reason abound, due to the many forms-of-life that past events, geography, climate, etc., have enframed for us. What is “reasonable” is dramatically different, according to the place, to the zeitgeist in which one finds him or herself. A behavior, or a viewpoint deemed reasonable in Dallas, Texas would not seem so, to a long term resident of San Diego, California. This is only an example.

Think about it. 

A good friend challenged me to reflect upon the role of reason. Reason is our best tool, a distinct human faculty of intervention. 

I mean to ask, to inquire out-loud, do we really believe “reason” is going to be enough?

v. 75

The people are starving
Because their superiors swallow up everything in
grain taxes.
Thus they starve
And cannot be ruled
Because their superiors are meddlesome
They cannot be ruled.

The people make light of death
Because their superiors live life to the full.
This is why they make light of death.
Only those who do not chase after life
Are more worthy than those who value life

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu trans. by Rosemarie Anderson, The Divine Feminine