Emergence of Rationalism, Emergence of Rationalism

In the 17th century, most of the most important philosophers in Europe were also successful mathematicians.

In France,  Rene Descartes  and  Blaise Pascal made important contributions to mathematics,  just as  Gottfried Leibniz did in Germany. They believed that the reasoning of mathematics was a very good model of how we acquired all of our knowledge of the world. Descartes  ‘  research into the question “What do I know? Onu brought him to rationalism, which would become the dominant view in continental Europe in the next century.

In the same period, a very different philosophical tradition was established in England.  Following the scientific reasoning adopted by Francis Bacon , John Locke  concluded that our knowledge of the world came not from reason,  but from experience.  This view, known as empiricism , shaped the English philosophy system during the 17th and 18th centuries. Despite the divide between the rationalism of continental Europe and British empiricism ( the same division separating the philosophies of Plato  and  Aristotle ), the centrality of the two views constituted common points: the same entity with the mind or experience leading to knowledge. The English Channel. philosophers on both sides of the universe about the structure of the questions – which these questions It  was answered by scientists such as Isaac Newton – he shifted to nasıl how do we know what we know ”.

Philosophers began to investigate the nature of the human mind and self. But these new philosophical movements had moral and political implications. Just as the sovereignty of the Church was overthrown by Renaissance ideas, aristocracy and monarchies were threatened by the Enlightenment’s new ideas. If the old administrations were to be deposed, what kind of sum would they take?

In England, Hobbes and Locke laid the foundations of democratic thought during the turbulent 17th century; however, it would have to take another 100 years to begin questioning the current situation everywhere else.

Prepared by:  Sociologist Ömer YILDIRIM
Source:  Ömer YILDIRIM’s Personal Lecture Notes. Atatürk University Department of Sociology 1st Grade Giriş Introduction to Philosophy ”and 2nd, 3rd, 4th Grade Tarihi History of Philosophy” Lecture Notes (Ömer YILDIRIM); Open Education Philosophy Textbook