"Cogito ergo sum"

"I think, therefore I am"

     The famous quote by Rene Descartes is depicted perfectly by François-Auguste-René Rodin's interesting sculpture, The Thinker. Descartes' thought provoking quote is explained in a very interesting and almost depressing manor. If one knows nothing else, thinking is to exist. Even to doubt is to think, therefore to doubt is to think and to think is to exist. This is a rationalist view of human nature. We do not know why we are here, and there is no real purpose, but as long as you can doubt and ultimately think, you exist.

Reason, the Basis of all Knowledge

A rationalist uses logic as the chief principle in knowledge. This means that everything we learn and we use reason in every situation above all else.

This diagram explains the connection between reason and all else. It is the source of knowledge in that we use logic to obtain knowledge. Our reason also ultimately provides justification for our morals and beliefs. Reason dictates how we see and view certain situations and our opinion of right and wrong toward that situation.