Man is no longer quite so helpless a creature as empiricism would make him.

He is able to weigh and consider the facts that are presented to the mind.

The method rationalism uses to arrive at truth is that of logical deduction, and the test of truth is that the steps in the process are logically sound.

We may start from the data "All dogs are animals" and "Carlo is a dog," and arrive very simply at the conclusion "Carlo is an animal." The conclusion is correct because we have reasoned in accordance with the laws of logic, with the laws of valid thought.

All logical reasoning is, of course, not so simple as the example given, but it may be stated generally that when there is no logical fallacy, a correct conclusion may be arrived at, provided, too--and herein lies the difficulty--provided that the premises are also true.