This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (October 2010)

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (December 2008)

In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286). In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive" (Bourke 263). Different degrees of emphasis on this method or theory lead to a range of rationalist standpoints, from the moderate position "that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge" to the more extreme position that reason is "the unique path to knowledge" (Audi 771). Given a pre-modern understanding of reason, "rationalism" is identical to philosophy, the Socratic life of inquiry, or the zetetic (skeptical) clear interpretation of authority (open to the underlying or essential cause of things as they appear to our sense of certainty). In recent decades, Leo Strauss sought to revive Classical Political Rationalism as a discipline that understands the task of reasoning, not as foundational, but as maieutic. Rationalism should not be confused with rationality, nor with rationalization.

In politics, rationalism is a development of the Enlightenment that emphasizes a "politics of reason" centred upon support of the concepts of rational choice, utilitarianism, secularism and irreligion; this has especially been promoted by liberalism.^[1]

Background[link]

Since the Enlightenment, rationalism is usually associated with the introduction of mathematical methods into philosophy, as in Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza (Bourke 263). This is commonly called continental rationalism, because it was predominant in the continental schools of Europe, whereas in Britain empiricism dominated.

Rationalism is often contrasted with empiricism. Taken very broadly these views are not mutually exclusive, since a philosopher can be both rationalist and empiricist (Lacey 286–287). Taken to extremes the empiricist view holds that all ideas come to us through experience, either through the external senses or through such inner sensations as pain and gratification, and thus that knowledge is essentially based on or derived from experience. At issue is the fundamental source of human knowledge, and the proper techniques for verifying what we think we know (see Epistemology).

Proponents of some varieties of rationalism argue that, starting with foundational basic principles, like the axioms of geometry, one could deductively derive the rest of all possible knowledge. The philosophers who held this view most clearly were Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, whose attempts to grapple with the epistemological and metaphysical problems raised by Descartes led to a development of the fundamental approach of rationalism. Both Spinoza and Leibniz asserted that, in principle, all knowledge, including scientific knowledge, could be gained through the use of reason alone, though they both observed that this was not possible in practice for human beings except in specific areas such as mathematics. On the other hand, Leibniz admitted that "we are all mere Empirics in three fourths of our actions" (Monadology § 28, cited in Audi 772). Rationalism is predicting and explaining behavior based on logic.

Philosophical usage[link]

The distinction between rationalists and empiricists was drawn at a later period, and would not have been recognized by the philosophers involved. Also, the distinction was not as clear-cut as is sometimes suggested; for example, the three main rationalists were all committed to the importance of empirical science, and in many respects the empiricists were closer to Descartes in their methods and metaphysical theories than were Spinoza and Leibniz.

History[link]

René Descartes (1596–1650)[link]

Descartes thought that only knowledge of eternal truths – including the truths of mathematics, and the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the sciences – could be attained by reason alone; other knowledge, the knowledge of physics, required experience of the world, aided by the scientific method. He also argued that although dreams appear as real as sense experience, these dreams cannot provide persons with knowledge. Also, since conscious sense experience can be the cause of illusions, then sense experience itself can be doubtable. As a result, Descartes deduced that a rational pursuit of truth should doubt every belief about reality. He elaborated these beliefs in such works as Discourse on Method, Meditations on First Philosophy, and Principles of Philosophy. Descartes developed a method to attain truths according to which nothing that cannot be recognised by the intellect (or reason) can be classified as knowledge. These truths are gained "without any sensory experience", according to Descartes. Truths that are attained by reason are broken down into elements that intuition can grasp, which, through a purely deductive process, will result in clear truths about reality.

Descartes therefore argued, as a result of his method, that reason alone determined knowledge, and that this could be done independently of the senses. For instance, his famous dictum, cogito ergo sum, is a conclusion reached a priori i.e. not through an inference from experience. This was, for Descartes, an irrefutable principle upon which to ground all forms of other knowledge. Descartes posited a metaphysical dualism, distinguishing between the substances of the human body ("res extensa") and the mind or soul ("res cogitans"). This crucial distinction would be left unresolved and lead to what is known as the mind-body problem, since the two substances in the Cartesian system are independent of each other and irreducible.

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)[link]

The philosophy of Baruch Spinoza is a systematic, logical, rational philosophy developed in seventeenth-century Europe.^[2][3][4] Spinoza's philosophy is a system of ideas constructed upon basic building blocks with an internal consistency with which Spinoza tried to answer life's major questions and in which he proposed that "God exists only philosophically."^[4][5] He was heavily influenced by thinkers such as Descartes,^[6] Euclid^[5] and Thomas Hobbes,^[6] as well as theologians in the Jewish philosophical tradition such as Maimonides.^[6] But his work was in many respects a departure from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many of Spinoza's ideas continue to vex thinkers today and many of his principles, particularly regarding the emotions, have implications for modern approaches to psychology. Even top thinkers have found Spinoza's "geometrical method"^[4] difficult to comprehend: Goethe admitted that he "could not really understand what Spinoza was on about most of the time."^[4] His magnum opus, Ethics, contains unresolved obscurities and has a forbidding mathematical structure modeled on Euclid's geometry.^[5] Spinoza's philosophy attracted believers such as Albert Einstein^[7] and much intellectual attention.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716)[link]

Leibniz was the last of the great Rationalists who contributed heavily to other fields such as mathematics. He did not develop his system, however, independently of these advances. Leibniz rejected Cartesian dualism and denied the existence of a material world. In Leibniz's view there are infinitely many simple substances, which he called "monads" (possibly taking the term from the work of Anne Conway).

Leibniz developed his theory of monads in response to both Descartes and Spinoza. In rejecting this response he was forced to arrive at his own solution. Monads are the fundamental unit of reality, according to Leibniz, constituting both inanimate and animate things. These units of reality represent the universe, though they are not subject to the laws of causality or space (which he called "well-founded phenomena"). Leibniz, therefore, introduced his principle of pre-established harmony to account for apparent causality in the world.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)[link]

Immanuel Kant started as a traditional rationalist, having studied the rationalists Leibniz and Wolff, but after studying David Hume's works, which "awoke [him] from [his] dogmatic slumbers", he developed a distinctive and very influential rationalism of his own, which attempted to synthesise the traditional rationalist and empiricist traditions.

Kant named his branch of epistemology Transcendental Idealism, and he first laid out these views in his famous work The Critique of Pure Reason. In it he argued that there were fundamental problems with both rationalist and empiricist dogma. To the rationalists he argued, broadly, that pure reason is flawed when it goes beyond its limits and claims to know those things that are necessarily beyond the realm of all possible experience: the existence of God, free will, and the immortality of the human soul. Kant referred to these objects as "The Thing in Itself" and goes on to argue that their status as objects beyond all possible experience by definition means we cannot know them. To the empiricist he argued that while it is correct that experience is fundamentally necessary for human knowledge, reason is necessary for processing that experience into coherent thought. He therefore concludes that both reason and experience are necessary for human knowledge.

See also[link]

References[link]

Primary sources

• Descartes, René (1637), Discourse on Method.
• Spinoza, Baruch (1677), Ethics.
• Leibniz, Gottfried (1714), Monadology.
• Kant, Immanuel, (1781/1787), Critique of Pure Reason.

Secondary sources

• Audi, Robert (ed., 1999), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1995. 2nd edition, 1999.
• Blackburn, Simon (1996), The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1994. Paperback edition with new Chronology, 1996.
• Bourke, Vernon J. (1962), "Rationalism", p. 263 in Runes (1962).
• Fischer, Louis (1997). The Life of Mahatma Gandhi. Harper Collins. pp. 306–307. ISBN 0-00-638887-6. 
• Lacey, A.R. (1996), A Dictionary of Philosophy, 1st edition, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976. 2nd edition, 1986. 3rd edition, Routledge, London, UK, 1996.
• Runes, Dagobert D. (ed., 1962), Dictionary of Philosophy, Littlefield, Adams, and Company, Totowa, NJ.
• Baird, Forrest E.; Walter Kaufmann (2008). From Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-158591-6. 

External links[link]

• Markie, Peter (2004), "Rationalism vs. Empiricism", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
• John F. Hurst (1867), History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology
• Continental Rationalism entry by Thomas M. Lennon and Shannon Dea in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

August Burns Red
August Burns Red in Bonner Springs during 2008's Warped Tour. From left to right: JB Brubaker, Jake Luhrs, Dustin Davidson, Brent Rambler, and Matt Greiner.
Background information
Origin	Manheim, Pennsylvania
Genres	Metalcore
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Solid State, CI, Hassle
Associated acts	Bells
Website	www.augustburnsred.com
Members
Jake Luhrs JB Brubaker Brent Rambler Dustin Davidson Matt Greiner
Past members
Jon Hershey Josh McManness Jordan Tuscan

August Burns Red is an American metalcore band, from Manheim, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2003, the group began their first performances while a majority of the members were attending their senior year of high school, and soon began playing shows around Lancaster, before being signed to CI Records, and afterward, Solid State Records. The group is primarily known for their heavy breakdowns and odd-meter riffs. They cite Between the Buried and Me, Misery Signals and Hopesfall as their main influences.

History[link]

[edit] Formation and Thrill Seeker (2003–2006)

August Burns Red was founded in March 2003 when all the members were attending high school.^[1] The original practice sessions of the band began in drummer, Matt Greiner's old egg house and basement on the Greiner family's farmland. After playing many local shows within Lancaster, they recorded their first EP, titled Looks Fragile After All with label CI Records in 2004.^[2]

Vocalist Jon Hershey eventually quit the band during the same year, which led to Josh McManness to take on the position as lead singer,^[3] and after several months of playing with McManness, August Burns Red signed to Solid State Records in 2005.^[4] Hershey would later go on to form post-rock band Bells.^{[5][better source needed][6][better source needed]} August Burns Red released Thrill Seeker, their first full-length album, on November 8, 2005. In 2006, drummer Matt Greiner was endorsed by Truth Custom Drums following the release of the album.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Messengers (2006–2009)

Vocalist Jake Luhrs joined the band in 2006. He is the band's third and current lead vocalist.

McManness departed from the band in 2006, exhausted by the band's constant touring. He was replaced with Columbia, SC resident, Jake Luhrs during the same year. Bassist Jordan Tuscan also left the band in 2006 for similar reasons as McManness. He was replaced by bassist Dustin Davidson, a friend of the band. The band's second album, Messengers, was released on June 19, 2007. Marking the debut for Luhrs fronting the group, it managed to become the band's breakthrough album, reaching number 81 on the Billboard 200.^[7] The album has sold a total of 108,000 copies as of May 2011.

Throughout 2008, August Burns Red toured with several acts across North America and Europe to promote Messengers. From April to May they toured with As I Lay Dying and Misery Signals across the United States and Canada.^[8] In September and October of that same year, they headlined a tour with A Skylit Drive, Sky Eats Airplane, Greeley Estates, and This or the Apocalypse in the United States.^[9] The band also visited Europe for a month-long headlining tour in November, playing in Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, The United Kingdom, Republic Of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and France.

After this series of tours, the band recorded two covers of popular songs. They recorded an instrumental version of the classic song, "Carol of the Bells" for the X Christmas compilation album, which was featured in trailers for the film, The Spirit, released Christmas Day 2008. They also recorded a cover of "...Baby One More Time" by pop singer Britney Spears for the Punk Goes Pop 2 compilation album, released in March 2009.

On February 24, 2009, the band released an EP, entitled Lost Messengers: The Outtakes. It contains material that is related or was decided not to be included in the final, mastered version of Messengers.^[10] August Burns Reds' first trip to the Middle East took place on March 6, 2009 with the band playing at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival. The band's last tour before their next album release took place in the United States, where they toured with metalcore band All That Remains throughout April and May.^[11]

[edit] Constellations (2009–2011)

To promote their upcoming album, August Burns Red released several new tracks and a music video during June 2009. The tracks Thirty and Seven, Existence, and Ocean of Apathy were all released on the 15th,^[12] 21st, and 29th, respectively. A music video for the song Meddler was also released during this month.^[13] On July 7, a week before the album's release, August Burns Red began streaming the full album on their Myspace profile for a limited time.^[14] August Burns Red released their third full-length album, Constellations, on July 14, 2009. During the week of August 1, 2009, the album charted at spot 24 on the Billboard 200.^[15] Another United States tour was organized with August Burns Red headlining and support from Blessthefall, Enter Shikari, All Shall Perish, and Iwrestledabearonce.^[16] After this tour, the band joined a short tour in Australia with Architects in support of Australian band Parkway Drive.^[17] August Burns Red toured alongside Underoath and Emery in November and December 2009 as well.^[18]

The band released their first live CD/DVD, Home, on September 28, 2010.^[19] The group co-headlined an Alternative Press tour throughout November.^[20] On February 23, 2010, Constellations was nominated for the Dove Award for "Best Rock Album".^[21]

August Burns Red toured Australia and New Zealand in December 2010 on the No Sleep Til Festival. The band played alongside Parkway Drive, A Day to Remember, NOFX, Dropkick Murphys, Suicide Silence, Megadeth, Descendents, Gwar and many others.

[edit] Leveler (2011–present)

August Burns Red in April 2011

On July 27, 2010, lead guitarist, Brubaker stated that the band would be taking time off tour to write their next record,^[22] On February 12, 2011, the band announced via their official Facebook page that they had completely finished writing their new record and that they would be entering the studio on Valentine's Day.^{[23][better source needed]} which, following into March of the next year, the band announced that the record was finished, and that it was (at that point) time for mixing.^{[23][better source needed]} On the April 5, August Burns Red revealed the name of this upcoming record as Leveler.^[24] On May 16, 2011, the band released the song "Empire" as a preview before its release. They also later premiered three other songs: "Internal Cannon", "Divisions", and "Poor Millionaire", on May 31, June 6, and June 14, respectively.

Leveler was released on June 21, 2011 in two forms; standard and deluxe. The deluxe version of Leveler contains four extra songs, including an acoustic version of the song "Internal Cannon". The album sold particularly well compared to their other releases, with 29,000 of its opening first week-copies being sold in the United States alone. These sales had the record land at position 11 on The Billboard 200 chart.^[25] After the release, August Burns Red took part on the main stage of the 2011 Vans Warped Tour.^[26]

August Burns Red headlined their own Leveler tour on the first quarter of 2012 with Silverstein, Texas in July, I the Breather and Letlive as support acts.

Characteristics and image[link]

Musical style[link]

August Burns Red is generally credited as a metalcore band,^{[27][28][29][30]} and have also been said to share traits of other genres such as progressive metal,^[29][31] and thrash metal.^[32] August Burns Red songs frequently feature technical or odd time signatures and heavy breakdowns, with a variety of influences including Meshuggah, Between the Buried and Me, Poison the Well, Symphony in Peril and Misery Signals.^[1][33]

While the group has stated that they don't mind being classified as metalcore, Brubaker has grown to a distaste in the genre's usual bands: "I feel like anyone who can pick up and play a guitar and learn to play a metalcore riff and any drummer who can learn to play a thrash beat over a breakdown is doing it. It's almost become very formulaic, and metal to me was never a formulaic genre."^[30]

Band name[link]

August Burns Red have been asked of the origin of their band name on many occasions and many different stories given in explanation to where it originated.^[27] The most popular story behind the name is an incident that revolves around the band's original vocalist, Jon Hershey wherein he dated a woman named August who burned his dog Redd alive in his dog house.^[34]

However, it was later revealed in a radio interview that this meaning (along with others) were simply comical stories created by the members and there is no actual meaning behind the band name. Drummer Matt Griener stated in the interview that "we just came up with the name to come up with a name."^[35]

Christian faith[link]

August Burns Red is a Christian band.^[3] JB Brubaker mentioned in an interview with Shout!, an online magazine, that "Christianity is a religion, not a style of music" and he would "rather just let the music speak for itself."^[36] Brent Rambler commented on the fact that "It is important to us that people know that we are indeed Christians...without having us stand up there and ram it down people's throats."^[37]

Members[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: August Burns Red

• Official website

Jonathan Haidt (born October 19, 1963) is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the psychological bases of morality across different cultures and political ideology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He was awarded the Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology in 2001.^[1] His book The Happiness Hypothesis examines ten "great ideas" dating from antiquity and their continued relevance to the happy life. A certain portion of his research has been focused on the emotion of elevation.

Moral Foundations Theory[link]

Haidt is best known for what he dubs "Moral Foundations Theory", which has been reported in publications such as The Atlantic,^[2] Boston Globe,^[3] and The Huffington Post.^[4] It is also the basis of his talk given at TED.

Moral Foundations Theory looks at the way morality varies between cultures and identifies five fundamental moral values shared to a greater or lesser degree by different societies and individuals.^[5] These are:

1. Care for others, protecting them from harm. (He also referred to this dimension as Harm.)
2. Fairness, Justice, treating others equally.
3. Loyalty to your group, family, nation. (He also referred to this dimension as Ingroup.)
4. Respect for tradition and legitimate authority. (He also referred to this dimension as Authority.)
5. Purity or Sanctity, avoiding disgusting things, foods, actions.

Haidt has recently added a sixth fundamental value, Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty.^[6]

Haidt found that Americans who identified as liberals tend to value care and fairness considerably higher than loyalty, respect, and purity. Self-identified conservative Americans value all five values more equally, though at a lower level across the five than the liberal concern for care and fairness. Both groups gave care the highest over-all weighting, but conservatives valued fairness the lowest, whereas liberals valued purity the lowest. Similar results were found across the political spectrum in other countries.^[7]

Criticism[link]

Haidt has been criticized at times for being both simplistic and too lenient toward moral beliefs that have historically led to grave injustices. In a response to Haidt's suggestion that atheists "pollute the scientific study of religion,"^[8] author Sam Harris writes, "Even if Haidt's reading of the literature on morality were correct, and all this manufactured bewilderment proves to be useful in getting certain people to donate time, money, and blood to their neighbors—so what? Is science now in the business of nurturing useful delusions? Surely we can grow in altruism, and refine our ethical intuitions, and even explore the furthest reaches of human happiness, without lying to ourselves about the nature of the universe"^[9]

Rev. Dr. Todd F. Eklof, author of "A Gospel for Liberals," gave a public response to Haidt during his February 26, 2012 sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane,^[10] stating; "I believe this naïve position is the result of his simplistic misunderstanding and misappropriation of Eastern philosophy and religion. As I had predicted, by the end of his lecture, his argument becomes entirely dualistic, to the point that he even begins comparing these two moral perspectives [liberal and conservative] to Daoism’s most pervasive symbol. '…Yin and Yang aren’t enemies,' he says, 'Yin and Yang don’t hate each other. Yin and Yang are both necessary, like night and day, for the functioning of the world.' This perspective may not be Manichean to the extent that Haidt doesn’t consider one side right and the other wrong, but I do believe it is to the extent that he views both positions as proportionate halves of a whole.^[11]

Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York, has also criticized Haidt on his blog,^[12] for his "contention that the Academy discriminates against conservatives (I rather think it is many conservatives who are not attracted to the academy — with all that open inquiry and low salaries)". But conservative and libertarian academic Duke University political scientist Michael Munger reject Pigliucci's claim as ridiculous and simplistic.^[13]

During an interview with WNYC's Leonard Lopate that discussed the book The Righteous Mind (aired April 17, 2012) Haidt expressed the opinion that the failure of the Occupy Wall Street movement was due to their willingness to listen to the point of view of everyone, even "the mentally ill."

Books[link]

• Haidt, Jonathan; Keyes, Corey L.M. (2002). Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well Lived.. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. p. 335. ISBN 978-1-55798-930-7. 
• Haidt, Jonathan (2005). The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-02802-0. 
• Haidt, Jonathan (2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-307-37790-6.  [1]

See also[link]

• Positive psychology
• The ethics of transcendence

References[link]