rationalisticadj.

1828 H. J. Rose State of Protestantism in Germany App. v. 126 And again, ‘pure Rationalistic Protestantism is as different from the Evangelical Protestantism of the sixteenth century, as Natural Religion is from Christianity.’

1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. vii. 411 A rationalistic spirit which revolted against all formularies.

1896 A. W. Benn in Academy 18 July 43/2 The ‘rationalistic’ theory, according to which the so-called miracles were natural occurrences interpreted in a supernaturalistic sense.

1922 Times 1 May 18/4 A wild, questing girl, who saw her drunken father put away drink on her mother's death, was pulled by him through a course of physical hardening and rationalistic philosophy.

1969 P. A. Robinson Sexual Radicals (1970) ii. 84 Roheim..rejected the naïve attempts of the founding fathers to explain culture in terms of a simple-minded rationalistic psychology.

1992 J. M. Kelly Short Hist. Western Legal Theory vii. 275 Central to it is the contrast between the British constitution, unembarrassed by rationalistic constructions,..and that of France.

1833 Biblical Repertory Jan. 28 The Letteroefeningen is thoroughly rationalistic, and assails the antiquated system and its adherents with biting raillery.

1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 311/1 The way being thus prepared, the number of rationalistic divines increased.

1883 H. Wace Gospel & Witnesses i. 13 If we could be sure that a miracle was inconceivable, the method of rationalistic writers would..be justified.

1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience xx. 502 See how the ancient spirit of Methodism evaporates under those wonderfully able rationalistic booklets (which every one should read) of a philosopher like Professor Bowne.

1991 R. W. B. Lewis Jameses iv. xvii. 559 The former are said, typically, to be rationalistic, idealistic, religious, free-willist, dogmatic, and so on.

1847 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Rationalistical.

1871 C. Hodge Systematic Theol. I. Introd. i. 4 To this class belong the Deistical and strictly Rationalistical writers of the past and present generations.

1846 J. W. Nevin Mystical Presence ii. 150 A worm..turning it in fact into the powerless form for which it is unbelievingly and rationalistically taken.

1869 Contemp. Rev. 12 77 He takes Homer into the account, but rationalistically.

1910 W. Temple Faith & Mod. Thought iii. 79 Why rationalistically minded folk should suppose that in a moment of almost intolerable joy people are going to have an exact memory for dates and places I cannot conceive.

2002 A. Feenberg Transforming Technol. (rev. ed.) iv. 106 If we understand computers rationalistically, as automata, we prepare a revised self-understanding along the same lines.

1865 R. Druitt Rep. Cheap Wines 99 The contagion of rationalisticism.