rationalist
Logic over intuition
A rationalist favors reason and logic over emotion, tradition, or religious faith as the basis for knowledge and belief.
In philosophy, rationalism holds that truth can be discovered through pure thought rather than sensory experience—contrasting with empiricism.
More loosely, a rationalist is someone who demands evidence and logical argument: She's too much of a rationalist to believe in ghosts.
Knowledge through observation
- DescartesCogito ergo sum's author
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
- SpinozaDutch philosopher of monism
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
cogito · epistemology · a priori · deduction · certainty · idealism · innate · Kant
Seeking answers through inquiry
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- doubterOne who disbelieves
- debunkerOne who disproves falsehoods
- scrutinyClose, careful examination
disbelief · incredulous · contrarian · secularist · materialist · atheist · freethinker · agnostic
Formal deductive argument structure
- deductionConclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- axiomSelf-evident starting principle
- theoremDemonstrated logical conclusion
proof · premise · proposition · validity · soundness · argumentation · reasoning · formal
Facts supporting truth
- dataFacts for analysis
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- scientificOf or using research methods
hypothesis · testable · falsifiable · verification · measurement · objective · quantitative · methodology
Prior-to-posterior probability approach
- heuristicsPractical problem-solving shortcuts
- cognitive biasSystematic deviation from rationality
- decision theoryStudy of optimal choices
- utilitarianPrioritizing function over beauty
forecasting · probability · expected value · updating · priors · epistemic · sequences
empiricism
Knowledge through observation
- DescartesCogito ergo sum's author
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
- SpinozaDutch philosopher of monism
Enlightenment · cogito · epistemology · a priori · deduction · certainty · idealism · innate · Kant · Locke
questioning
Seeking answers through inquiry
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- doubterOne who disbelieves
- debunkerOne who disproves falsehoods
scrutiny · disbelief · incredulous · contrarian · secularist · materialist · atheist · freethinker · agnostic · Hitchens
syllogism
Formal deductive argument structure
- deductionConclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- axiomSelf-evident starting principle
theorem · proof · premise · proposition · validity · soundness · argumentation · reasoning · formal · calculus
evidence
Facts supporting truth
- dataFacts for analysis
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
scientific · hypothesis · testable · falsifiable · verification · measurement · objective · quantitative · methodology · analysis
Bayesian
Prior-to-posterior probability approach
- heuristicsPractical problem-solving shortcuts
- cognitive biasSystematic deviation from rationality
- decision theoryStudy of optimal choices
utilitarian · forecasting · probability · expected value · updating · priors · epistemic · sequences
- thinkersthinkers, thinker, philosophers, philosopher, Aristotle
- philosophy worldethicist, logician, metaphysician, epistemologist, aesthetician
- critical thinkersskeptic, analyst, logician, questioner, evaluator
- freethinkersfreethinker, freethinkers, secularists, skeptic, skeptics
- investigatorsdetective, investigator, inspector, sleuth, gumshoe
- Nonconformistsnonconformist, rebels, rebel, misfits, misfit
rationalistirrationalist
Denier of reason's primacy
mystic · intuitionist · spiritualist · supernaturalist · believer
rationality, rationalize, rationalism, irrationality, rationalistic, rationalists, rationalities, irrationalities