Rationalism
Definition
Rationalism describes any philosophy that claims that beliefs and opinions should always be logical, deductive conclusions rather than being based on experience, observations, religious teachings, or divine revelation.
Keywords: Rationalism, Philosophy, Logical, Reasoning, Deductive, Experience, Observations, Religious, Revelation, Contradictory.
Veracity
Rationalistic claims are false .
Proof
All self-refuting or contradictory claims are deductively false.
Premise 1: Only deductive conclusions should be believed.
Premise 2: Premise 1, being the foundation or starting point of the philosophy, is not itself a deductive conclusion.
Conclusion: Therefore, premise 1, also known as "rationalism", should not be believed.
Rationalistic claims, when adhered to, require the rejection of rationalistic claims. To accept them is to reject them, making rationalism inherently contradictory and deductively false.
Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons
Riveting, yet absurd; romantic, yet innocent; Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons is a little Roald Dahl, a little Harry Potter, and a little Chronicles of Narnia, all rolled into one. Timothy McCabe collaborates with the great Benedict Ballyhoot to bring you the novel of the century!
In Printed Form
Along with numerous other authors including Don Landis, Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, Timothy McCabe contributes analyses of various world religions and cults in this volume from Master Books.
Other Writings
"Why are books of faith, such as the Bible or Koran, seething with so much violence? Do you think that there is a relationship between the violence that has been perpetrated in the name of religion and the books of faith?"
The word "violence" often carries with it a connotation of evil. However, the definition of the word does not necessitate any kind of moral association. According to dictionary.com, the first definition of violence is "swift and intense force". Thus, we could comfortably say that a batter hits a baseball with violence, or a carpenter drives a nail into a piece of wood with violence. I can think of no one who would find these violent tasks to be inherently evil.
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"Why does Jesus, when riding into Jeruselum (Matthew 21:7) ride on two things at once, the ass as well as the colt. Why does he ride both at the same time, and what does it teach us? Where also does it fit in in the 4 categories of 2 Timothy 3:16?"
Here are the relevant passages from the NASB: Matthew 21:6-7 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Mark 11:7 They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. Luke 19:35 They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.
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"Are all presuppositions equally valid? If not, how does one determine which are more valid than others?"
Internal consistency is the most common method I know of for determining the truth value of presuppositions. The test of internal consistency is what presuppositional reasoning is all about. If, for example, a view presupposes "A" and "not-A" at the same time and in the same way, then, in that worldview, reasoning, knowledge, learning, meaning, morality, science, mathematics -- everything -- becomes utterly incoherent.
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