ABSTRACT
First published in 1973, Reason and Compassion showcases a collection of lectures by Professor Richard S. Peters concerned primarily with the moral position, based on compassion and on the use of reason, which is critical to code-encased moralities. In his first lecture he developed the theme that the complex content of the moral life can be unified, to a certain extent, by a form in which reason and compassion can be combined with varying degrees of emphasis. In this lecture he wants to say more about this form of life, especially in respect to the role of reason in it. He want to attack the common assumption that the use of reason is a passionless business, the prerogative perhaps of the unfeeling or the middle-aged. The proper contrast is between levels of life, each characterized by distinctive levels of thought and feeling.
