rationalism

In theology, the belief that human reason rather than divine revelation is the correct means of ascertaining truth and regulating behaviour. In philosophy, rationalism takes the view that self‐evident a priori propositions (deduced by reason alone) are the sole basis of all knowledge. It is usually contrasted with empiricism, which argues that all knowledge must ultimately be derived from the senses.

The philosophers René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, and Baruch Spinoza are known as the continental rationalists, and are usually contrasted with the British empiricists.