in their work the faces of reason: an essay on philosophy and culture in english canada 1850-1950, leslie armour and elizabeth trott consider that the canadian way of doing philosophy uses reason in an accommodationist manner. i propose in this thesis that william lyall's intellect, the emotions and the moral nature represents a splendid example of the accommodationist use of reason. the maritimes philosopher advances the idea that emotions have a cognitive value, a claim which i support by trying to put lyall's ideas in a modern framework offered by french philosopher jean paul sartre. latent in lyall's work can also be found a theory of metaphor which i try to revive with the help of french philosopher paul ricoeur. thus, following lyall, emotions and reason are always in a balance and they work together in order to give us a more consistent and fuller grasp of reality.