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Rationalism

Rationalism is the philosophical position which holds that reason alone can discern fundamental truth about the nature of the world [nature], unaided by experience. Rationalism is characterized by the belief that the world [nature] is fundamentally intelligible to human reason, thus reason alone is the only means by which human beings can know the truth about nature.

Rationalism posits that intuition is a form of rational insight, and that the truth or falsehood of propositions can be derived by deductive reasoning from intuition, which is itself a form of a priori knowledge gained independently from sensory experience. The rationalistic Intuition/Deduction Thesis is often used to shape hypotheses about natural phenomena, which can be elevated to the status of scientific theory if then confirmed by the inductive conclusions drawn from empirical experimentation.

Thus modern scientific methodology can be called "Rationalistic Empiricism," or Pragmatism.

Web Resources On Rationalism

Rationalism vs. Empiricism
Rationalism in the Catholic Encyclopedia
Rationalism in Bartleby

Book Resources On Rationalism

Rationalism, Empiricism and Idealism by A. Kenny
Between Rationalism and Empiricism: Selected Papers in the Philosophy of Physics by Erhard Scheibe

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