RATIONALISMCHAPTER 6

PHILOSOPHY OF MAN

RATIONALISM

Latin ratio,”reason”

In philosophy, it is a system of thought that emphasizes the role of reason in obtaining knowledge

It is contrast to empiricism, which emphasizes the role of experience, especially sense perception

A philosophical view that appeals to

reason as a source of knowledge

It is a theory in which the criteria of truth is not sensory

but intellectual

FEATURES OF THE APPEAL TO REASON

Opposed To:

• Absolute monarchy• Rigid social classes• Religious authoritarianism• Superstition and unscientific views of the world• Doctrine of original sin with respect to human nature

Contrasted With:

• Revelation in religion• Feelings and emotion• Senses and intuition

WHAT RATIONALISM BELIEVES

Man could by his own reason improve himself and his institutions to bring about general welfare

Upheld the right of each individual to his own opinion, liberty of conscience, and freedom of thought

RATIONALISM

Developed By The Following European Philosophers:1. Dutch Philosopher: Baruch Spinoza2. German Philosopher and Mathematician:

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz It Was Opposed:

◦British Empiricist Philosopher: John Locke Believed that all ideas are derived from the senses

•Has been applied to other fields of philosophical inquiry

Epistemological Rationalism

•Is the claim that certain primary moral ideas are innate in humankind and that such first moral principles are self-evident to the rational faculty

Rationalism in Ethics

•Is the claim that the fundamental principles of religion are innate or self-evident and that revelation is not necessary

Rationalism in the Philosophy

of Religion

•Rationalism has played chiefly an antireligious role in theology

Since the end of the 1800s

BARUCH SPINOZA

•A member of the rationalist school of philosophy•Pursued knowledge through deductive reasoning rather than induction from sensory experience•He applied the theoretical method of mathematics to other realms of inquiry

Regarded as the foremost Western proponent of Pantheism

This idea is the central thesis of His most famous and influential work, the

1674 Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata (Ethics Demonstrated

with Geometrical Order

PANTHEISM

A belief that God is everything

That God and the material world are one and the same thing and

That God is present in everything

PHILOSOPHY OF SPINOZA

He rejected the propositional nature of special revelation in the scriptures

He rejected the existence of miracles for miracles do not happen

He argued that God and nature were two names for the same reality

God is the natural world and has no personality

God does not rule over men and things but God is part of the system of which everything in nature is a part

Everything that happen in the universe occurs through the operation of necessity

Everything necessarily happen the way it does

There is no free will

GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ

•The 17th-century thinker who made contributions to a variety of subjects, including theology, history, and physics,•He is best remembered as a mathematician and philosopher•According to him, the world is composed of monads—tiny units, each of which mirrors and perceives the other monads in the universe

PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNIZ

MONADS THE PRINCIPLE OF PREESTABLISHED

HARMONYBasic entity in metaphysics of Leibnitz

It is an indivisible indestructible unit that is the basic element of reality and a microcosm of it

It states that God constructed the universe in such a way that it corresponds to mental and physical events occurring simultaneously

RENE DESCARTES

•The 17th century French scientist and mathematician•He was also one of the most influential thinkers in Western philosophy•He stressed the importance of skepticism in thought and proposed the idea that existence had a dual nature: one physical, the other mental•Known for his principle “Cogito ergo sum”, “I think, therefore I exist

He was looking for certainty, and used his

method of doubt or skepticism to try and find

what was definite

PHILOSOPHY OF RENE DESCARTES

When man doubt, he is thinking for doubting is the starting point of thinking

Once a person is already thinking, he could no longer doubt that he existed

Innate ideas or pure ideas are the very attribute of the human mind

These pure ideas are know as “a priori” that are present in al human existence

These innate ideas are the prerequisite for learning additional facts

Without ideas, no other data could be known by men

PLATO

•One of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece•Originally named Aristotle, but called Plato due to the breadth of his shoulder or his speech•Known as the father of Idealism and a believer in Rationalism Philosophy•Wrote 41 Dialogues and Book of Definitions•His famous concept of an ideal state is incorporated in his book Republic

Founder of the Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied

He is widely believed to have been a student of Socrates

PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO

Under the usual haphazard methods of childbearing accidents of birth often restrict the opportunities for personal development

Faculty upbringing prevents most people from achieving everything of which they are capable

The promise of easy fame or easy wealth distracts some of the most able young people from the rigor’s of intellectual pursuits

People with the best ability and natural dispositions must receive the best education, engaging in a regimen of mental discipline that grows more strict with every passing year of their lives

The highest goal of man in education is knowledge of the good. Good is directly apprehended by intuition

The fundamental capacity of human reason is to comprehend the true nature of reality

The reality must be something in the ideal order, not necessarily in the things themselves, but rather above them, in a world by itself

Ideas are the foundation and justification of scientific knowledge. Reality does not change, for the ideas in man are immutable

Of all ideas, the ideas of the beautiful shines out through the phenomenal veil more clearly than any other; hence the beginning of all philosophical activity is the love and admiration of the Beautiful

RATIONALISM VS. EMPIRICISM

There were many concepts widely used in Mathematics and science that could not be discovered by experience alone

Empiricism could not stand alone, but required large amount of truth to be accepted by the proper use of reason

Attacked rationalists arguing that the content of the so-called innate ideas or “priori” ideas was actually learned through one’s experience

We learn vast amount of knowledge through our family, education, and society which comes very clearly in life and cannot be counted as innate

QUESTIONS

1.Defend the rationalists point of view that we can gain knowledge by the use of reason alone. If possible illustrate this by means of examples

2. In what sense is rationalism opposed to empiricism? Support your answer by giving examples or situations

3. Explain the argument of Spinoza that God and Nature are two names for the same reality

4. Do you believe in miracles? Do you disagree with the philosophy of Spinoza that miracles do occur? Justify your answer

5. Why is Plato known as the “Father of Idealism Philosophy”? Elaborate your answer well

6. According to Leibniz, “calculations could resolve many differences in opinion”. What is meant by his statement?

7. Do you agree with the philosophical ideas of Descartes that when you think, you exist? Support well your answer

QuizJanuary 13,20111. It is a theory in which the criteria of truth is not sensory but

intellectual (Rationalism)2. He believed that fieldtrips is needed in the curriculum so as to have

contacts with men and things from all sectors of society (John Milton)3. He pursued knowledge through deductive reasoning rather than

induction from sensory experience (Baruch Spinoza)4. In philosophy, it is a doctrine that denies the possibility of attaining

knowledge of reality as it is in itself, apart from human perception (Skepticism)

5. According to Leibniz philosophy, it is an indivisible indestructible unit that is the basic element of reality and a microcosm of it (Monads)

6. A movement affirming that nature is the whole of reality and can be understood only through scientific investigation (Naturalism)

7. He said that true followers of Jesus would not make good citizens (Jean Jacques Rousseau)

8. He was known for his principle “Cogito ergo sum”, “I think, therefore I exist (Rene Descartes)

9. According to him, knowledge of all subjects, from astronomy to sociology, should come from the correlation of evidence gathered by investigation and observation (August Comte)

10. It is the attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual (Humanism)