There is no concept so central to philosophy than Reason. It is reason that is the very focal point of all discovery and knowledge, for a philosopher to achieve any kind of enlightenment without the use of reason is impossible. Reason is, arguably, that which separates man from beast, that consciousness and ability to analyze and comprehend. It has been through reason that societies and governments have been created: our own through the reasoning of our founders utilizing the reasoning of John Locke and other liberal thinkers of the "Enlightened" period.
In terms of our American Government we have three essential branches the Executive, Legislative; and the Judicial. The Executive branch of the U.S. Government consists of the Office of the President and surrounding bureaucracy, charged with executing the laws of America. The Legislative branch consisting of the Congress made up of a House of Representatives and Senate, maintaining the power of the purse, is charged with the creation of laws and statutes. Finally the Judicial branch consists of a great body of Courts from the Supreme Court, the highest in the land, all the way down to local Courts. This body, the way that our constitution was crafted, acts as the representative of Society in interpreting and translating the laws. They are the finders of fact: the seekers of Truth.
All philosophy in and of itself is the pursuit of Truth. The Judiciary is no different from Philosophy in its ultimate tool being that of reason. Thus, at the center of all that is judicial thought there stands reason above all else. Whereas philosophy tends to be viewed as thought dealing with abstracts and universal principles, legal ...