Episodes

8 episodes in this season

On Virtue

61 min

On Deontology

75 min

On Consequentialism

66 min

On Realism

65 min

On Skepticism

63 min

Now Playing

On Rationalism

60 min

On Empiricism

67 min

On Idealism

75 min

Introduction to Philosophy

TV Series

20261h

DocumentaryTalk

Now playing

On Rationalism

Season 1 · Episode 6 · Jan 16, 2026

In lecture six, we investigate the rationalist tradition, tracing its roots from Plato to modern thinkers like Descartes and Leibniz. We focus on how rationalists respond to skepticism, arguing that knowledge can be gained independently of experience through innate ideas and a priori truths. We examine Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” and mind-body dualism, as well as Leibniz’s analytic and synthetic distinctions and his defense of synthetic a priori knowledge. Our discussion concludes by highlighting the fundamental disagreement between rationalists and empiricists about whether all knowledge comes from experience or whether the mind contributes its own innate structures to organize and understand reality.

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Introduction to Philosophy

TV Series

20261h

DocumentaryTalk

Now playing

On Rationalism

Season 1 · Episode 6 · Jan 16, 2026

More details