This formulation comes from Hegel, where it plays a particular, and essential role in Hegel's system. Engels' revival of Hegel's definition was taken up by Plekhanov and Kautsky, and continues to have a place in the arguments of Trotskyist groups today. I think not, at least not in the sense it is normally understood. In Hegel's system, both freedom and necessity are defined in such a manner that their reconcilation through the universal idea is logically unavoidable. Freedom involves the recognition in consciousness of necessity in its entirety.
Nature is rational because reason is none other than nature conscious of itself.
The opposition between the two is overcome in the Mind. The problem with Hegel's conception lies in the fact that it is completely passive. It leaves no room for human practice beyond the exercise of the mind. It is a philosophy of reconciliation with the world as it is, leaving no room for its transformation. Hegel's philosophy is carried over into social relations.