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Single Idea 5200
[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
]
Full Idea
The fundamental tenet of rationalism is that thought is an independent source of knowledge.
Gist of Idea
The main claim of rationalism is that thought is an independent source of knowledge
Source
A.J. Ayer (Language,Truth and Logic [1936], Ch.4)
Book Ref
Ayer,A.J.: 'Language, Truth and Logic' [Penguin 1974], p.98
A Reaction
Presumably one should add that thought gives synthetic knowledge. Thought is also an experience, so empiricists will always acknowledge that we could have some knowledge (of thought) by thought alone.
The
42 ideas
with the same theme
[reason as ultimate basis of all knowledge]:
430
|
Senses are no use if the soul is corrupt
[Heraclitus]
|
3058
|
Only reason can prove the truth of facts
[Parmenides]
|
20897
|
Obscure knowledge belongs to the five senses, and genuine knowledge is the other type
[Democritus]
|
517
|
All evidence comes from senses, so they are indispensable to the mind
[Democritus]
|
151
|
True knowledge is of the reality behind sense experience
[Plato]
|
2162
|
If theory and practice conflict, the best part of the mind accepts theory, so the other part is of lower grade
[Plato]
|
1637
|
A soul without understanding is ugly
[Plato]
|
2068
|
With what physical faculty do we perceive pairs of opposed abstract qualities?
[Plato]
|
2069
|
Thought must grasp being itself before truth becomes possible
[Plato]
|
2078
|
You might mistake eleven for twelve in your senses, but not in your mind
[Plato]
|
334
|
Only bird-brained people think astronomy is entirely a matter of evidence
[Plato]
|
1726
|
We may think when we wish, but not perceive, because universals are within the mind
[Aristotle]
|
23312
|
Aristotle is a rationalist, but reason is slowly acquired through perception and experience
[Aristotle, by Frede,M]
|
22748
|
Some say motion is perceived by sense, but others say it is by intellect
[Sext.Empiricus]
|
22117
|
Our minds grasp reality by direct illumination (rather than abstraction from experience)
[Augustine, by Matthews]
|
20224
|
Sensation prepares the way for intellectual knowledge, which needs the virtues of reason
[Aquinas]
|
3611
|
Understanding, rather than imagination or senses, gives knowledge
[Descartes]
|
2263
|
The wax is not perceived by the senses, but by the mind alone
[Descartes]
|
3627
|
Dogs can make the same judgements as us about variable things
[Gassendi on Descartes]
|
2264
|
We don't 'see' men in heavy clothes, we judge them to be men
[Descartes]
|
2265
|
We perceive objects by intellect, not by senses or imagination
[Descartes]
|
22011
|
The first principles of truth are not rational, but are known by the heart
[Pascal]
|
4865
|
The eyes of the mind are proofs
[Spinoza]
|
2110
|
We all expect the sun to rise tomorrow by experience, but astronomers expect it by reason
[Leibniz]
|
4302
|
You may experience a universal truth, but only reason can tell you that it is always true
[Leibniz]
|
12930
|
The senses are confused, and necessities come from distinct intellectual ideas
[Leibniz]
|
12947
|
We only believe in sensible things when reason helps the senses
[Leibniz]
|
5569
|
We cannot represent objects unless we combine concepts with intuitions
[Kant]
|
19572
|
Experiences tests reason, and reason tests experience
[Novalis]
|
15625
|
Sense perception is secondary and dependent, while thought is independent and primitive
[Hegel]
|
21577
|
Empirical truths are particular, so general truths need an a priori input of generality
[Russell]
|
5200
|
The main claim of rationalism is that thought is an independent source of knowledge
[Ayer]
|
4303
|
The notion of substance lies at the heart of rationalist metaphysics
[Cottingham]
|
8880
|
In reducing arithmetic to self-evident logic, logicism is in sympathy with rationalism
[Sosa]
|
2504
|
Rationalism can be based on an evolved computational brain with innate structure
[Fodor]
|
3704
|
Moderate rationalists believe in fallible a priori justification
[Bonjour]
|
3707
|
Our rules of thought can only be judged by pure rational insight
[Bonjour]
|
2729
|
Virtually all rationalists assert that we can have knowledge of synthetic a priori truths
[Audi,R]
|
2741
|
The principles of justification have to be a priori
[Audi,R]
|
8725
|
Rationalism tries to apply mathematical methodology to all of knowledge
[Shapiro]
|
17705
|
Empiricists say rationalists mistake imaginative powers for modal insights
[Mares]
|
6576
|
My view is 'circumspect rationalism' - that only our intellect can comprehend the world
[Fogelin]
|