reason

In Kantianism, reason is the means by which we bring order to our perceptions of the world, and, Kant believed, an intrinsic aspect of the soul. This belief aligns with Plato's, that the soul contains original principles of several notions and doctrines which external objects merely awaken on occasion. Kant's view differs from Aristotle's view where the soul itself is entirely empty, like a tablet on which nothing has yet been written (tabula rasa) and all that is traced thereon comes solely from the senses and from experience. Kant's view is also contrary to Locke and Liebniz who believed the mind is a tabula rosa. Source: Malik, 2000, pp 72.

Reason, in Kant's case, is not subjective, it is not personal or psychological, it is transcendental or universal, common to all humans, though made manifest through activity of individuals. This reason comes from the creator of the world. Hence, human intuition could form the basis of true, objective knowledge. (Malik, 2000, pp 72).

In the Cartesian view, the world exhibits order, but only humans manifest reason 'I can have no knowledge of what is outside me except by means of ideas I have within me.' (ibid, pp 45).

Descartes, with his internalization of ideas and their separation from reality, transformed reason. Reason is no longer defined as existing in the objective order of things, but becomes a method, or procedure, to discover truth. Source: Malik, 2000, pp 44. See Descartes method of reasoning in philosophers.

See phenomenon and noumenon.