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The 3 Anchor Points of Rationalism

Reason is the primary or most superior source of knowledge about reality

According to the rationalist, it is through reason that we truly understand the fundamental truths about reality. Our experience is not enough because it can never be 100% certain (ie. Descartes and the wax analogy)

The rationalist claims that the following statements represent a priori truths about the world. They are a priori because they can be known apart from experience, yet they tell us what the world is like.

Innate ideas are ideas that are inborn. They are ideas of principles that the mind already contains prior to experience.

1 - Logical Truths

• A and not-A cannot both be true at the same time (where A represents some proposition or claim). This truth is called the law of non-contradiction. (For example, the statement “John is married and John is not married” is necessarily false.)

• If the statement X is true and the statement “If X, then Y” is true, then it necessarily follows that the statement Y is true.

2 - Mathematical Truths

• The area of a triangle will always be one half the length of the base times its height.

If X is larger than Y and Y is larger than Z, then X is larger than Z.

3 - Metaphysical Truths

• Every event has a cause.

• An object with contradictory properties cannot exist. (No matter how long we search, we will never find a round square.)

4 - Ethical Principles

• Some basic moral obligations are not optional.

It is morally wrong to maliciously torture someone for the fun of it.

Further Questions:

Where are the multiplication tables? You may be tempted to say that they are in your head and written in books. In one sense, you would be right. But if there were no persons to think about multiplying numbers and all books containing these tables were destroyed, would the laws of mathematics still be true? Would they still, in some sense, exist? We can write down 2 x 2 =4. However, the truths of mathematics are not literally identical to the ink on the page. Instead, the marks we make are simply ways we represent these truths. In what sense do mathematical truths come to us through reason (ie. mind) and not through the eyes?

Compare the quantity and quality of justice in America's institutions, laws, and practices today with the degree of justice in the era of slavery. List several contemporary nations that exhibit a high degree of justice. List examples of nations that offer very little justice. If we are comparing two people in terms of how closely they resemble Elvis Presley, we know what sort of procedure to use. We hold up a photograph of Elvis and see who matches it the best. But how do you compare two nations in terms of their degree of justice? We can't see justice with our eyes, nor can we measure it with our scientific instruments. There are no “justice scopes” or “justice meters.” What is justice that we can use it as a standard of comparison? How is it possible for us to know about it?

What's the connection between Plato's theory of recollection, Platonic Forms, and the idea of finding one's “soul mate” (if you believe in such a thing)?

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