Rationalism is a philosophical system that emphasizes the role of reason in obtaining knowledge, in contrast to empiricism which emphasizes experience and sense perception. Some key rationalist philosophers discussed in the document include Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, Rene Descartes, and Plato. Spinoza believed that God and nature are the same reality and that there is no free will. Leibniz proposed the theory of monads and preestablished harmony. Descartes emphasized using skepticism and reason to find certainty, stating "I think, therefore I am". Plato believed ideas are immutable and the goal of education is knowledge of the good. The document contrasts rationalism with empiricism and discusses rationalism in various fields such

1. CHAPTER 6
PHILOSOPHY OF MAN

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. RATIONALISM
 Developed By The Following European
Philosophers:
1. Dutch Philosopher: Baruch Spinoza
2. German Philosopher and Mathematician:
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
 It Was Opposed:
◦ British Empiricist Philosopher: John Locke
 Believed that all ideas are derived from
the senses

6. • 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNIZ
MONADS THE PRINCIPLE OF
PREESTABLISHED
HARMONY
Basic 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. QuizJanuary 13,2011
1. 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)