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Philosophy vocabulary · Schools and Movements

Rationalism

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

/ˈræʃənəlɪzəm/nounCore term

In philosophy, rationalism means: The view that reason, rather than sense experience, is the main source of knowledge, and that some knowledge is innate or a priori.

In Turkish: akılcılık, rasyonalizm

How it is used

In histories of philosophy it names the seventeenth-century continental rationalists Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. In everyday English rationalism can also mean a general preference for reason over religion or emotion.

Example sentences

  1. Descartes' rationalism rests on clear and distinct ideas known by reason alone.

  2. The exam question asks you to compare rationalism and empiricism on innate ideas.

Common collocations

  • continental rationalism
  • rationalism and empiricism
  • moral rationalism
  • critical rationalism
  • empiricismThe view that all or most of our knowledge comes from experience through the senses, rather than from reason alone.
  • a prioriDescribes knowledge or justification that does not depend on experience, such as knowing that all bachelors are unmarried or that 7 + 5 = 12.
  • reasonThe human ability to think logically, draw conclusions and judge what is true or right; also a consideration that counts in favor of a belief or an action.
  • cogitoDescartes' argument 'I think, therefore I am', meant to show that you cannot doubt your own existence while you are thinking.

More terms: Schools and Movements

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