The tension between faith and reason has been particularly acute in the Western religions, which find revelation not simply in holy books but in prophetic words that call for definite assent and frequently command a precise course of action.
That is to say, a dominant faction, or cluster of factions, might settle on a course of action that stigmatizes or oppresses broad classes of minorities.
Prosecutors are expected to settle on a course of action soon, they said.
So he settled on a bold course of action: in future he would run from the front.
But the firm is still considering other alternatives and has not settled on a definitive course of action, these people cautioned.
Nonetheless, a senior administration official said after Mr. Bush's speech that "he has no war plans on his desk," and that he had not yet settled on a course of action in Iraq.
Rejecting the usual methods — too messy, too violent, too vulgar — he settles on a suitably poetic course of action, or rather of terminal passivity.
Xunzi calls the sort of judgment that the heart makes when it settles on a course of action approval.
It can use its knowledge of the Way to guide behavior, for, Xunzi says, the heart is the ruler of the body: once it settles on a course of action, it merely has to issue its orders, and the body is sure to obey.
Intentions resist reconsideration they are relatively stable, in the sense that we take ourselves to be settled on a course of action when we intend it, and it seems to be irrational to reconsider an intention absent specific reason for doing so.
Even if we are smart and diligent, when it comes to settling on a course of action we resort to delaying tactics or blaming others to duck responsibility for fear of being seen as "wrong". Answers are not usually immediate.
