Rationalism
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The belief that one can arrive at one’s
rather than relying on
•
of the past
•
•
Institutions
by using
Rationalism began in
with the great rationalist philosophers and scientists. Some of whom were:
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1543--Nicolas Copernicus:
Rethinks our place in the
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1642-1727--Sir Isaac Newton:
Discovers the
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1637--Rene Descartes:
“I think therefore
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1632-1704 – John Locke:
“the right to
, Liberty and
.”
”
The Age of Reason emphasised:
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reason over the
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the social over the
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the common interest over the
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Reason is the dominating characteristic both of
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nature is governed by fixed, unchanging laws
and
Age of Reason
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of rational science
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Culture venerates rationality & consciousness
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Represents educated (white, male) mind as
–
, scientific, critical,
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Others (women, non-white) represented as
–
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, emotional, , corporeal
is a basis of much Western thought
Impact of the Age of Reason on the Church
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It was the first widely-read, systematic attack on the concept of religion in the West
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Tension between
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Some
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Some saw religion as the
& reason
religion & miracles
Religion and the Rational Mind
DEISM
“God makes it possible for all people at all times to discover natural laws through the God-given faculty of reason.”
Benjamin Franklin
The deists
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The largest movement among the
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Believed only those Christian teachings which met the test of
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Denied miracles, Resurrection, original sin, divine revelation (Bible)

The deists & God
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Saw God as the “great
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Non-participatory after the Creation
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So no purpose to prayer!
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Christ as a great moral teacher
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But not the Son of God!
”
Influence on Social thought
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The guiding principles:
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Reason can find eternal laws governing human relationships.
•
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Utilitarianism
is the result of our ignorance of these laws.
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Jeremy Bentham (d. 1832)
“The greatest good for the greatest number of people”
“Stay-in-Bed Scholar”
“Gentleman, Soldier, and Mathematician”
Born on March 31,
Died on February 11, 1650
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As a child was very weak and was always sick.
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He had been picked on by bullies for it.
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He was inspired to do math by .
Accomplishments
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He graduated from the University of Poitiers.
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He changed math by discovering
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Descartes did not revise ; he created it.
.
Rene Descartes (cont.)
(Cartesian Dualism)
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“I think therefore I am”
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Body and mind are separate
 body takes up

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Justifies other dualisms:
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People vs. Nature
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Culture vs.
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occupies no space
vs. Body
Descartes:
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Venerates the rational mind vs.
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Body and universe become a something to be mapped, explored, dissected by rational science
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1642 to
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Lived during the last European , the Baroque period in music, and the beginning of the Age of Reason.
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Thinkers who came after saw Newton’s Laws as a description of a
.
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Newton’s First Law of Motion:
“An object in motion in a straight line at a constant speed (or at rest) stays in motion in a unless acted upon by an external force.”
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This was a radical departure from previous ideas of Aristotle who believed objects moved because of their own natural tendencies
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Newton’s Third Law (The Karma of Physics)
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For every action there is an and reaction.

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Isaac Newton, t he great and
discovered the law of gravitation and successfully explained the basic workings of the physical universe.
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But to many he had left out as well as the
and spiritual elements from his theories.
The popularisation of science
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Newton’s Principia were hard to understand
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But made science accessible
(1632-1704)
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B.
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Oxford, 1652-67
, son of a small property-owner and lawyer
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Studied church-state issues, chemistry and medicine, new mechanical philosophy
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Involvement in politics through Lord Ashley, whom he treated for a liver abscess
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Plotted to assassinate King Charles II and his Catholic brother, later James II
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Exile in Holland, 1683-89
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1689: 3 major works published
Major works and themes:
A Letter Concerning (1689)
Argues for toleration;
Except for atheists, “who deny the Being of a God” and thus
(e.g. in contracts).
Context:
- Religious on the Continent.
and in England and
Innate Ideas
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Philosophers such as Plato & Descartes, maintained that we are
with some of the ideas which we have.
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For Plato, all of our ideas are innate, even though a certain amount of
may be required to grasp them clearly.
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According to this theory we have innate ideas of such things as God, freedom, immortality, substance, and of some moral truths, eg. that
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Locke seriously with this.
Locke’s Basic “Theory of Knowledge”
Human being = tabula rasa (blank slate)
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receives sense-impressions
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some of these are transformed by Mind into
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Ideas represented in language by
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However, ideas are innate
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Mind operates (through gradual learning process) without reference to any received
Locke’s Ideas
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Model of
(of Church, State or others)
-type images (“ideas”) left in the mind by sense-impressions:
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primary qualities: inherent in objects themselves (size, shape, number)
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secondary qualities: those we assign (color, taste, sound) to senseimpressions, e.g. vibration produces sound; however, the sound we hear is not the vibration itself, but its effect on our hearing apparatus.
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Complex Ideas
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Sense-data of primary qualities (PQs) and secondary qualities (SQs), produce
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Ideas are mental results of
in the mind:

Locke’s Ideas (cont.)
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Sense-perceptions
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Bodily sensations
•
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Thoughts and
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Born
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Study (Edinburgh and Cambridge) 1825-1831
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Wrote The Origin of Species 1859
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Died 1882
Darwin’s achievements
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Transformed biological science
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Both style and content
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Still the cornerstone of biology
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Now the cutting edge of psychology
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Transformed attitudes of humanity to our place in the universe
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Not just an evolutionist, not even a to start with
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Collected beetles for fun
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Studied more seriously
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Considered himself a geologist throughout the Beagle voyage and for some time after
Contribution to style of science
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Pre-Darwin, science was done in
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Was primarily
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Deduction and theorising was disparaged as
“ ”
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Darwin used detailed observation to explore much larger questions - helped change scientific
Natural selection
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Developed theory in complete
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In face of violent opposition
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With no knowledge of
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With no knowledge of
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With no
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Died famous for
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Natural selection not widely accepted, even among his supporters
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Darwin remained convinced. Only
of natural selection actually occurring
(which was not his idea)
years later did scientists appreciate his foresight.
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Anguish
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Social class ,
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Evolution subversive - against his
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Religious considerations
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Especially worried about hurting wife Emma who grieved for
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“Like confessing a
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Sea sickness
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Problems throughout life
.”
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Violent shivering, vomiting, exhaustion, palpitations, hands trembling, head swimming, sleeplessness, headaches, , stomach problems, ringing of ears, fainting, copious palid urine
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In 1841 could work “an hour or two a couple of days a week.”
Religion
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Started out on path to clergy
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“The Darwins had produced lawyers and military men, but Charles lacked the . There was, however, a safety net to stop second sons becoming wastrels: the Church of England. An aimless son with a penchant for field sports would fit in nicely.” (Desmond &
Moore)
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Religious