- the principle or habit of accepting reason as the supreme authority in matters of opinion, belief, or conduct.
- Philosophy.
- the doctrine that reason alone is a source of knowledge and is independent of experience.
- (in the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, etc.) the doctrine that all knowledge is expressible in self-evident propositions or their consequences.
- the doctrine that human reason, unaided by divine revelation, is an adequate or the sole guide to all attainable religious truth.
- Architecture.(often initial capital letter)
- a design movement principally of the mid-19th century that emphasized the development of modern ornament integrated with structure and the decorative use of materials and textures rather than as added adornment.
- the doctrines and practices of this movement.
- reliance on reason rather than intuition to justify one's beliefs or actions
- philosophy
- the doctrine that knowledge about reality can be obtained by reason alone without recourse to experience
- the doctrine that human knowledge can all be encompassed within a single, usually deductive, system
- the school of philosophy initiated by Descartes which held both the above doctrines
- the belief that knowledge and truth are ascertained by rational thought and not by divine or supernatural revelation
