Rationalism

The philosophical stance that stresses the mind (in contrast to the senses) in the knowing process and the central place of a priori thinking.

Rationalism in Western thought may be traced at least to the time of Plato; prominent rationalists include Avicenna, Duns Scotus, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, as well as the modern evangelicals, Stuart Hackett and Gordon Clark.