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Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by BeFlatXIII on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @02:23PM (#44880014)
> Not that non-rationalists are any better at reasoning, but non-rationalists do at least benefit from some intellectual humility.

Non-rationalists are forced to use their physical senses more often because they can't follow the chain of logic as far. This is to their advantage. Empiricism > rationalism.

Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by om8 on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @04:43PM (#44881597)
Good rationalism includes empiricism though
Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by whatevertrevor on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @05:05PM (#44881806)
That conclusion presupposes that rationality and empiricism are at odds or mutually incompatible somehow. Any rational position worth listening to, about any testable hypothesis, is hand in hand with empirical thinking.
Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by guerrilla on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @05:21PM (#44881946)
In traditional philosophy, rationalism and empiricism are at odds; they are essentially diametrically opposed. Rationalism prioritizes a priori reasoning while empiricism prioritizes a posteriori reasoning. You can prioritize both equally but that is neither rationalism nor empiricism in the traditional terminology. The current rationalist movement has no relation to that original rationalist movement, so the words don't actually mean the same thing. In fact, the majority of participants in the current movement seem ignorant of the historical dispute and its implications, hence the misuse of the word.
Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by whatevertrevor on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @05:31PM (#44882030)
Thank you for clarifying.

That does compute with what I thought the "Rationalist" movement as covered by the article was about. I didn't peg them as pure a priori thinkers as you put it. I suppose my comment still holds, assuming the rationalist in this context refers to the version of "Rationalism" being discussed in the article as opposed to the traditional one.

Re:Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? by BlueTemplar on Tuesday August 12, 2025 @05:30PM (#44882022)
Yeah, Stanford has a good recap :

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/

(Note also how the context is French vs British, and the French basically lost with Napoleon, so the current "rationalists" seem to be more likely to be heirs to empiricism instead.)