In "Nightfall", Anton the director of Saro University, Theremon the reporter, Sheerin the psychologist and Latimer the cultist represent different...

Anton is
associated with both science and reason, but a kind of pure reason: that of the hard sciences.

Latimer is associated with religion, but also with a sense of wonder, and a
veneration of the past.
Sheerin is associated with the attempt to turn the human mind
on itself (social science), and to use reason to deal with passion and even madness.
Theremon is the voice of the people and in some ways of experience. He's associated with
cynicism and doubt.