Rationalism

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/rationalism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary epistemological source?Reason and intellectual intuition
2. What is the key historical period?Prominent during the Enlightenment (17th-18th centuries)
3. How is rationalism different from empiricism?Empiricism says we learn from our senses, while rationalism says we can know truths by thinking alone. Rationalists think the mind has built‑in ideas that help us understand reality.
4. Who was René Descartes and what did he say?René Descartes was a famous philosopher who used careful doubt to find sure truths. He famously said, "I think, therefore I am," meaning that thinking proves you exist.

A Priori Knowledge: Knowledge that is independent of experience, derived from reason alone.
A Posteriori Knowledge: Knowledge that is dependent on experience or empirical evidence.
Metaphysics: The branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.