rationalism.

The view that some important knowledge can be gained through reason independently of sensory experience.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• philosophical rationalism
• rationalist tradition

On the page

The lecture contrasted rationalism with approaches giving priority to experience.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.