The Thoughts Of Romantics vs Rationalists Through Systemic Functional Linguistics

Russell (1961: 696):

The romantic form of revolt is very different from the rationalist form, though both are derived from the French Revolution and the philosophers who immediately preceded it.  The romantic form is to be seen in Byron in an unphilosophical dress, but in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche it has learnt the language of philosophy.  It tends to emphasise the will as the expense of the intellect, to be impatient of chains of reasoning, and to glorify violence of certain kinds.  In practical politics it is important as an ally of nationalism.  In tendency, if not always in fact, it is definitely hostile to what is commonly called reason, and tends to be anti-scientific.

Blogger Comment:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, the distinction between the will and the intellect is the distinction between to two types of projecting mental processes — mental symbolic processing — desiderative and cognitive, respectively.  Desiderative processes project proposals, commands and offers, whereas cognitive processes project propositions, statements and questions.  Hence the alignment of the will with nationalism and the alignment of the intellect with science.