rationalism
Americannoun
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the principle or habit of accepting reason as the supreme authority in matters of opinion, belief, or conduct.
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Philosophy.
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the doctrine that reason alone is a source of knowledge and is independent of experience.
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(in the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, etc.) the doctrine that all knowledge is expressible in self-evident propositions or their consequences.
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Theology. the doctrine that human reason, unaided by divine revelation, is an adequate or the sole guide to all attainable religious truth.
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Architecture.
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a design movement principally of the mid-19th century that emphasized the development of modern ornament integrated with structure and the decorative use of materials and textures rather than as added adornment.
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the doctrines and practices of this movement.
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noun
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reliance on reason rather than intuition to justify one's beliefs or actions
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philosophy
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the doctrine that knowledge about reality can be obtained by reason alone without recourse to experience
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the doctrine that human knowledge can all be encompassed within a single, usually deductive, system
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the school of philosophy initiated by Descartes which held both the above doctrines
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the belief that knowledge and truth are ascertained by rational thought and not by divine or supernatural revelation
Other Word Forms
- antirationalism noun
- antirationalist noun
- antirationalistic adjective
- nonrationalism noun
- nonrationalist noun
- nonrationalistic adjective
- nonrationalistical adjective
- nonrationalistically adverb
- rationalist noun
- rationalistic adjective
- rationalistical adjective
- rationalistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of rationalism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Maybe I’m betraying my hopeless rationalism, but if I learned of the reality of time travel and “aerial spirits,” I’d be a little more preoccupied by it than Iris seems to be.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
This “consumption downgrade” is not a move toward poverty but toward a militant form of rationalism.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026
He urged Bhogal to schedule group video calls to discuss rationalism, Stoicism and effective altruism.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2024
Prof Selove said: "This MA will allow people to re-examine the assumption that the West is the place of rationalism and science, while the rest of the world is a place of magic and superstition."
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2023
There is a puzzle here, because the standard alternative to voluntarism is rationalism, and a rationalist would hold that the laws of nature, like the laws of mathematics, exist because they are necessary.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
