Inherent knowledge

Philosophy has a set of beliefs and ideas that explain the meaning of life and provide insights. It means “love of wisdom.” There are many essential concepts in the context of philosophy, one of which is rationalism. Rationalists argued that knowledge is based upon prior knowledge and consists of an inherent framework in the western viewpoint. They do not emphasise the role of environmental factors and certain situations, 

Overview 

From Western philosophy’s viewpoint, rationalism is considered the source and test of knowledge. It means that it holds a logical framework. According to many rationalists, there are certain principles, specifically in logic and mathematics and in ethics and metaphysics, which are basic and essential. 

Rationalism is the opposite of empiricism. Empiricism is a notion from which knowledge comes and is tested by experience. On the other hand, rationalism consists of certain truths beyond experience. 

Forms of expressions 

Various meanings and doctrines are associated with rationalism, depending on theory and nature. 

Psychology: In psychology, rationalism is the converse of genetic psychology presented by a Swiss scholar, Jean Piaget (1896-1980). He studied the growth and development of infants and argued that cognitive development is dependent on the experiences of the infants with the world around them. Likewise, transactionalism is another point in psychology that states that the achievements and accomplishments of any human being are attained by actions that again depend upon the environmental factor. 

However, many rationalists agreed with the concept of nativism, according to which certain intellectual growth is innate and infants become aware of specific situations. 

During the 1950s, Noam Chomsky, a linguistic theorist, also developed another theory of nativism in a comparative study analysis of languages. He accepted the principles of rationalism as ‘innate ideas.’ However, numerous dialects are present in the world that are different in sounds and symbols, but they have a common syntax, and human beings have their presence in their minds. These presentations create a pattern for all types of experiences and formulate the rules, making the translation of languages easier. 

In epistemology (theory of knowledge), rationalism holds another meaning, i.e., all human beings obtain knowledge through the help of prior knowledge, and it is different from the sense experience. 

In the discussion between rationalism and empiricism, empiricists state that information and knowledge came from perceptions. On the contrary, rationalists argue that knowledge comes from the direct apprehension of intellect. 

From an ethical point of view, rationalism is the reason instead of emotion or any authority. It is the direct way of differentiating between right and wrong. There were many great thinkers, but Kant gave notable points. 

In religion, rationalism is defined as the knowledge that comes from natural resources without any other supernatural revelation. It also used the term ‘reason’ which means that human intellectual capacity is opposed to supernatural faith. Additionally, they also believe in the co-existential aspects of truth. 

Difference between rationalism and empiricism

Rationalism and empiricism are schools of doctrines that provide insights into existential meaning and reasons. 

In the context of rationalism, knowledge comes from experience or prior knowledge. On the other hand, the knowledge in the case of empiricism depends on the senses, and rationalists do not mention it. As per empiricism, no knowledge comes without any reason or alone. 

Rationalists argue that intellectual reasoning is the only reason for any knowledge, and empiricists state that individuals’ sense of observing the world is the mode of gaining knowledge. 

Many thinkers and philosophers argued and brought many definitions and meanings of rationalism and empiricism. Spinoza Leibniz and Immanuel Kant were two great philosophers and gave two different views on the topics. 

Fundamentally, both these philosophies are not the same and opposite. However, the philosophers, who have to believe in any of them, continuously find new ideas and principles to correlate them with the existence of human beings. 

Rationalism is a set of belief systems that depends on innate ideas, causes, and deductions. On the contrary, empiricism is the belief that depends upon the sense perception, induction and there are no innate ideas.

Conclusion

Since philosophy is a set of beliefs and ideas that elucidate the meaning and definition of life and its complexities, many philosophers in the history of philosophy have provided many definitions and explanations related to philosophy. Rationalism is an important part of philosophy. Rationalists argued that knowledge is based upon prior knowledge and consists of an inherent framework in the western viewpoint. They do not emphasise the role of environmental factors and certain situations,