In our age, emotions are often praised as the antidote to cold rationality. We are told that feelings bring warmth, authenticity, and a more human quality into our choices. And indeed, emotions are indispensable. They make life worth living, enrich our relationships, inspire creativity, and give us joy. No sane person would want to erase them.
But it is a mistake to confuse this truth with the claim that emotions can serve as a reliable guide to truth or sound judgment. Rationality is not simply another mental talent, one faculty among others. It is a method: a commitment to follow a clear procedure for deciding questions of truth, validity, or prudence, and to accept the result whether we like it or not.
Here emotions often become dangerous. They tempt us to break the rules of reasoning, to ignore the procedure and choose instead the answer that feels comforting. It is pleasant to imagine that an enemy army will collapse within a week, or that a political opponent will be led away in handcuffs. It is pleasant to believe that a charming young man has our best interests at heart. But reality is indifferent to what feels pleasant, and to follow emotions where they lead is to invite manipulation, error, or even fanaticism.
Half-rationality is no rationality at all. Either we abide by the rules or we do not. Attempts at a “synthesis” are usually an excuse to abandon discipline whenever the outcome makes us uncomfortable. The modern world, with its freedoms and prosperity, was built not on indulging feelings but on the hard discovery that rules, procedures, and consistent reasoning matter more than comfort. That discovery lifted Europe from famine and fear, and paradoxically, it also created the conditions in which a rich emotional life could finally flourish.
If we surrender to feelings in matters of truth, only one emotion will remain in the end: fear.