rationalist philosophy

Rationalist philosophy is the belief that reason and intellect are the primary sources of knowledge, rather than sensory experience. Rationalists argue that certain truths, such as mathematical principles or moral ideas, can be discovered through logical deduction and innate ideas inherent to the human mind. They emphasize that knowledge can be acquired independently of the physical world, focusing on the power of reasoning to understand existence and the universe. Key figures include René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, who championed this approach in contrast to empiricism, which values observation and experience as the main pathways to knowledge.