Enlightened Reason is a humanistic philosophy that embraces a rational world-view best define by the following outlook:
1.The ability to reason is the greatest evolutionary trait in human beings, and is what distinguishes us from other animals. Because of this, we have a responsibility to use our rational and intellectual abilities to serve the greatest good for ourselves, our world, and the future of human civilization.
2. The scientific method and the discoveries of science offer the best possible means by which we can understand the world and universe around us.
3. Nothing supernatural exists. All that exists is by its definition part of the natural world or the universe as a whole.
4. Humans are neither controlled by nor subject to any kind of supernatural causation, predestination, or transcendental will. We must always strive to achieve our utmost potential and work to forge a better future for all humankind.
5. Ethics and moral responsibility must not driven by the empty threats of divine retribution, but by the necessity to serve the greatest good and our compassionate obligation to mitigate suffering whenever possible.
6. We must continue in our technological advancement and begin our expansion into space in order assure the long-term survival of our civilization. At the same time, we must harness technology to protect the Earth, conserve our resources, and repair the damage we have caused to our planet's ecosystem.
The philosophy of Enlightened Reason also encourages the study of Classical philosophies such as those of Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists, not only for the intellectual pursuit of knowledge, but also to gain a valuable perspective into the Golden Age of Philosophy. The philosophy of the Stoics should also be held in high regard, especially the Meditations of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The most valued aspects of these philosophies, above all other considerations, is that they actually force one to think, even if (or especially if) you disagree with certain points.
The philosophies that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment are no less valuable as well. The writings of Hume, Kant, Hegel, Locke, Comte, Thomas Paine, and even Benjamin Franklin, have come to shape our modern perspective on the value of reason and critical thinking. In the 20th and 21st century, these Enlightenment era philosophies continued to evolve through the various inter-related schools of rationalism, empiricism, objectivism, instrumentalism, pragmatism, and the philosophy of science itself.
What matters most with consideration to the essential philosophy of Enlightened Reason is simply an understanding that reason, combined with healthy balance of critical thinking and skeptical inquiry, enables us to exercise sound judgment and to think for ourselves with objective clarity.
The study of philosophy is also important because it provides a valuable framework from which we can begin to study and understand those things that are, from a subjective point of view, outside the scope of science. After all, there are many things that science cannot definitively answer. What can science tell us about justice, beauty, ethics, morality, political systems, or the concepts of right and wrong? Science can only tell us that these things are the consequence of human social behavior. But science cannot tell us what is just or unjust, what is beautiful or ugly, what is ethical or unethical, what is moral or immoral, what political and economic system are the best, or even the difference between right and wrong. Science has little to tell us about any of these choices besides numbers and statistics.
These and all other things which are, at least for the present time, outside the scope of science or which are unknowable to science can only be considered with the fullness of reason. The subjects of ethics, beauty, good governance, and the merits of competing economic systems, should all be contemplated and freely debated, as well as should those facets of our universe that are as yet indeterminable at our present state of technological development.