Title: DESCARTES, LEIBNIZ AND SPINOZA: A BRIEF SURVEY OF RATIONALISM
Abstract:Perhaps the best recognized and most commonly made distinction between rationalists and empiricists concerns the question of the source of ideas. Whereas the empiricists hold that all ideas come from ...Perhaps the best recognized and most commonly made distinction between rationalists and empiricists concerns the question of the source of ideas. Whereas the empiricists hold that all ideas come from experience, the rationalists generally believe that some ideas are innate. Although the rationalists tend to be remembered for their positive doctrine concerning innate ideas, their assertions are matched by a rejection of the notion that all ideas can be accounted for on the basis of experience alone. The Aristotelian doctrine, nihil in intellectu nisi prius in sensu (nothing in the intellect unless first in the sense), had been dominant for centuries, and it was in reaction against this that the rationalists revived in modified form the contrasting Platonic doctrine of innate ideas. There is, however, no rationalist creed or manifesto to which all rationalists subscribed in the same way. Nevertheless, with due caution, it is possible to use the rationalism category to highlight significant points of convergence in the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, inter alia in our quest to survey the rationalist epistemological doctrine. These include a doctrine of innate idea, the application of mathematical method to philosophy, and the belief a priori principles. This paper, thus, seeks a deeper understanding of the tenets of rationalism by reinvestigating its epistemological claims especially in lights of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.Read More
Publication Year: 2020
Publication Date: 2020-09-23
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 1
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot