The English Oracle

Reason vs. purpose

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Chapters
00:00 Reason Vs. Purpose
00:41 Accepted Answer Score 4
02:15 Answer 2 Score 1
02:48 Answer 3 Score 0
03:10 Answer 4 Score 0
03:30 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#meaningincontext #wordusage #synonyms #antonyms

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 4


I was inclined to suggest that this was a general reference question, yet the answer wasn't obvious to me either! Here we go, in a variety of contexts, which is why the question is of interest to me too.

English usage and definition
Do purpose and reason mean the same thing?

To do something for a purpose means you're doing it to accomplish something else, which is your PURPOSE. Accomplishing a purpose is only one of many reasons why we do something--in this case, REASON is more like "motive."

A reason can be trivial or illogical. One can purchase something for the reason that one likes how it looks e.g. I might buy sky-blue colored suede, open-toe, high-heel pumps because they're cute, but that won't accomplish the ultimate purpose in buying footwear, which is to facilitate walking.

Philosophical
The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way, is the purpose. Reason motivates action.

Grammatical
Purpose and reason are neither synonyms, nor antonyms, which was part of the question. As a part of speech, both words are nouns. That is the similarity. This is the difference:

Purpose is the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists while Reason is a cause, explanation or justification for an action or event.

Side bar: It is more appropriate to say "The reason for blah is blahblah". Usage is context-specific with "purpose" e.g. "The purpose of blah..." versus "The purpose for blah...".




ANSWER 2

Score 1


In my view the Purpose is what you want to achieve (e.g. become a millionaire or become a moviestar), the Reason is why you want to achieve it (e.g. you want to live free of financial worries or you like to entertain people).

Consider this quote:

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Here, the purpose is to really live and the reason why is to have enriching experiences.




ANSWER 3

Score 0


I will give you my point of view, with an example. The reason I run daily is to stay fit, the purpose of me staying fit is to live a healthy life. It seams when we provide a reason, and still ask why afterwards, and run out of WHYs, the final answer is the purpose.




ANSWER 4

Score 0


Purpose is always subjective, whereas reason can be either subjective or objective. Choose the best answer: "What was the reason for/purpose of the kettle exploding?" The two nouns also have quite different collocations: "Can you give your reasons for ....?" "Can you state your purpose in ....?"