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I think I'm missing something important.

My understanding of "Rationalists" is that they're followers of rationalism; that is, that truth can be understood only through intellectual deduction, rather than sensory experience.

I'm wondering if this is a _different_ kind of "Rationalist." Can someone explain?

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It's a terrible name that collides with the older one you're thinking of

The easiest way to understand their usage of the term "rational" might be to think of it as the negation of the term "irrational" (where the latter refers mostly to cognitive biases). Not as a contrast with "empirical."

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