this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
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Afaik rationalism was named so by other people; i.e. the first classical rationalist was Descartes, but his death pre-dates the first use of the term rationalism. Objectivism is a whole different story...
you're thinking about rationalism instead of Rationalism.
I am indeed, because the one with the capital R is more fringe to me, and there is no context pointing to that one.
The context is that the meme is making fun of it, which makes no sense for the epistemological version.
The further context is that you posted this in the Philosophy community, which draws my mind more toward historical thinkers than modern groups that use “rational” to sound smart.
plenty of modern philosophers. If you think philosophy is only about historical old men, that's on you.
You've argued this with at least two people, I think the confusion can be forgiven.
I can excuse the confusion, but I don't get why people are defensive about it. is their self-worth tied to how well they identify philosophy schools?
I didn't think they were being defensive...
Yeah, I had a few modern philosophers as professors in college when I minored in it. Based on a glimpse at the wikipedia article you shared, I’m hesitant to call these modern rationalists philosophers. Sophists sounds more appropriate.
I just thought there was some additional context that you missed which would explain the confusion some people are having. I will easily admit that it is my fault for thinking of historic philosophers whose ideas are still discussed today before a fringe group from Silicon Valley that uses the same terminology.