What is a rationalist view?

Rationalism, in Western philosophy, the view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge. Holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of truths exists that the intellect can grasp directly.

What is rationalism according to Descartes?

Descartes was the first of the modern rationalists. He thought that only knowledge of eternal truths (including the truths of mathematics and the foundations of the sciences) could be attained by reason alone, while the knowledge of physics required experience of the world, aided by the scientific method.

What is rationalist person?

If you describe someone as rationalist, you mean that their beliefs are based on reason and logic rather than emotion or religion. the rationalist philosopher Lakatos.

What is the difference between atheist and rationalist?

Unlike, a theist or an atheist, a rationalist requires the effort to acquire knowledge about God. Once acquired it is to be tested and applied to reason to become a theist or atheist. Both an agnostic and a rationalist have to put in the effort to find whether nothing is proven of God’s existence.

Is it possible to use both rationalism and empiricism?

It is possible to use both rationalism and empiricism. In fact, this is common both in science and in normal thinking.

Which is the best description of rationalism?

Rationalism. Rationalism, in Western philosophy, the view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge. Holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of truths exists that the intellect can grasp directly. There are, according to the rationalists,…

Why do rationalists believe in logic and proof?

There are, according to the rationalists, certain rational principles—especially in logic and mathematics, and even in ethics and metaphysics —that are so fundamental that to deny them is to fall into contradiction. The rationalists’ confidence in reason and proof tends, therefore, to detract from their respect for other ways of knowing.

Who is Jean Piaget and what is rationalism?

In the psychology of perception, for example, rationalism is in a sense opposed to the genetic psychology of the Swiss scholar Jean Piaget (1896–1980), who, exploring the development of thought and behaviour in the infant, argued that the categories of the mind develop only through the infant’s experience in concourse with the world.

What is the disagreement between rationalists and empiricists?

The disagreement between rationalists and empiricists primarily concerns the second question, regarding the sources of our concepts and knowledge. In some instances, their disagreement on this topic leads them to give conflicting responses to the other questions as well.