Now in a being which has reason and a will, if the proper object of nature were its conservation, its welfare, in a word, its happiness, then nature would have hit upon a very bad arrangement in selecting the reason of the creature to carry out this purpose… For reason is not competent to guide the will with certainty in regard to its objects and the satisfaction of all our wants (which to some extent it even multiplies), this being an end which an implanted instinct would have led with much greater certainty; and sence, nevertheless, reason is imparted to us as a practical faculty…, its true destination must be to produce a will, not merely good as a means to something else, but good in itself, for which reason was absolutely necessary.
Kant, 1788, pp.11-12
Var vi i virkeligheden bedere stillet styret af drifter kun frem for fornuft? Umiddelbart har jeg lyst til at give ham ret. Forstanden giver os ofte flere problemer end den løser, og det meste af min tankevirksomhed går udpå at forholde mig til de problemer mit hoved selv skaber for mig. Men jeg vil jo helst heller ikke være foruden, for på en eller anden måde er den knyttet til min frie vilje og gør mig menneskelig forvirret.
