rationalism
Mind over faith
Rationalism is the philosophical position that reason, rather than experience or revelation, is the primary source of knowledge.
In its strongest form, it holds that some truths can be known through pure thought alone, independent of sensory observation.
The term contrasts with empiricism, which grounds knowledge in experience.
More loosely, rationalism describes any approach that emphasizes logical analysis over tradition, emotion, or faith: His rationalism made him skeptical of religious claims.
Cogito ergo sum's author
- SpinozaDutch philosopher of monism
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
- KantGerman Enlightenment thinker
- PlatoGreek philosopher, academy founder
cogito · a priori · dualism · epistemology · metaphysics · ontology · monism · substance
Conclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- syllogismFormal deductive argument structure
- logicScience of valid reasoning
- argumentationSystematic reasoning process
proof · validity · premise · conclusion · demonstration · axiom · theorem · derivation
Separation of faith, state
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- atheismRejection of deities
- agnosticismDoubt about divine existence
skepticism · anticlericalism · Enlightenment · naturalism · irreligion · critical inquiry · scientific worldview · church-state separation
Knowledge through observation
- scientific methodStructured process for investigation
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
reductionism · objectivity · evidence-based · secular · verifiability · hypothesis · systematization · quantification
Insight preceding experience
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- certaintyTotal absence of doubt
- truthAccordance with reality
- justificationReason proving rightness
foundations · self-evidence · indubitable · universal truths
Plotinus's systematic mystical metaphysics
- KantianismDuty-centered moral philosophy
- Vienna CircleLogical empiricism's founding collective
- PopperFalsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
- RandCurrency of South Africa
Descartes
Cogito ergo sum's author
- SpinozaDutch philosopher of monism
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
- KantGerman Enlightenment thinker
Plato · cogito · a priori · dualism · epistemology · metaphysics · ontology · monism · substance · first principles
deduction
Conclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- syllogismFormal deductive argument structure
- logicScience of valid reasoning
argumentation · proof · validity · premise · conclusion · demonstration · axiom · theorem · derivation · consistency
secularism
Separation of faith, state
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- atheismRejection of deities
agnosticism · skepticism · anticlericalism · Enlightenment · naturalism · irreligion · critical inquiry · scientific worldview · church-state separation
empiricism
Knowledge through observation
- scientific methodStructured process for investigation
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- mechanismMeans by which something operates
naturalism · reductionism · objectivity · evidence-based · secular · verifiability · hypothesis · systematization · quantification · prediction
a priori knowledge
Insight preceding experience
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- certaintyTotal absence of doubt
- truthAccordance with reality
justification · foundations · self-evidence · indubitable · universal truths
Neoplatonism
Plotinus's systematic mystical metaphysics
- KantianismDuty-centered moral philosophy
- Vienna CircleLogical empiricism's founding collective
- PopperFalsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
- philosophy & artaesthetics, ethics, logic, metaphysics, sculpture
- beliefsbelief, beliefs, creed, creeds, faith
- ismscapitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, racism
- Ideasidealism, materialism, empiricism, liberalism, conservatism
- philosophiesempiricism, stoicism, nihilism, idealism, materialism
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
rationalismempiricism
Knowledge through observation
irrationalism · mysticism · unreason · sensationalism · intuitionism
rationalismtraditionalism
Adherence to inherited customs
mysticism · blind faith · superstition · dogmatism · fundamentalism
rationalismempiricism
Knowledge through observation
sensualism · positivism · pragmatism · nominalism · materialism
rationality, rationalize, irrationality, rationalist, rationalizing, rationalized, rationalistic, rationalizes, rationalists