Toward Aligning Computer Programming with Clear Thinking via the Reason Programming Language∗

Logic has long set itself the task of helping humans think clearly. Certain computer programming languages, most prominently the Logo language, have been billed as helping young people become clearer thinkers. It is somewhat doubtful that such languages can succeed in this regard, but at any rate it seems sensible to explore an approach to programming that guarantees an intimate link between the thinking required to program, and the kind of clear thinking that logic has historically sought to cultivate. Accordingly, Bringsjord has invented a new computer programming language, Reason, one firmly based in the declarative programming paradigm, and specifically aligned with the core skills constituting clear thinking. Reason thus offers the intimate link in question to all who would genuinely use it.