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An essay on why empiricism is better than rationalism
An essay on why empiricism is better than rationalism
Can knowledge be gained through experience
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Knowledge Arguments For many years, philosophers have discussed the topics of knowledge, such as skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, and constructivism. While rationalism claims that our primary source of knowledge is reasoning, empiricism rejects it by claiming that we gain our knowledge by experience rather than reasoning. Skepticism, on the other hand, questions if we have knowledge at all because if we are not one-hundred-percent sure of something, we cannot say that we have knowledge of it. Constructivism is another theory, which agrees with some claims of each of rationalism and empiricism and discards others, but it does not agree with skepticism. Of the theories mentioned, constructivism best responds to the problem of the knowledge because it agrees with the ideas, from both of rationalism and empiricism, which make sense. Empiricism claims that all of our knowledge depends on sense experience only instead of both reason and experience. Empiricists argue that we would not be able to understand what colors look like if we had never seen them. Describing taste, colors, smell, etc, would be meaningless …show more content…
One of the best contributors of constructivism is Immanuel Kant. Kant, who was born in Prussia, is one of the best known philosophers in the history of philosophy. Kantian constructivism is the claim that we can analyze knowledge through priori, which is reasoning, and a posteriori, which is experience. Kant’s claim is that our knowledge does not necessarily come from experience itself, but rather we already have knowledge and it begins with experience (Lawhead 237). In another argument, Kant says, “Without sensibility no object would be given to us, without understanding no object would be thought (Lawhead 243). Kant did not directly disagree with either rationalism or empiricism; instead, he agreed with both of them in an attempt to reconcile
The debate between rationalist and empiricist philosophers looks at the nature of knowledge, and specifically, how we gain this knowledge. Rationalists and empiricists take opposite, and sometimes mutually exclusive, views on how knowledge is obtained.
There is a distinct difference between rationalism and empiricism. In fact, they are very plainly the direct opposite of each other. Rationalism is the belief in innate ideas, reason, and deduction. Empiricism is the belief in sense perception, induction, and that there are no innate ideas.
Rationalists would claim that knowledge comes from reason or ideas, while empiricists would answer that knowledge is derived from the senses or impressions. The difference between these two philosophical schools of thought, with respect to the distinction between ideas and impressions, can be examined in order to determine how these schools determine the source of knowledge. The distinguishing factor that determines the perspective on the foundation of knowledge is the concept of the divine.
From this argument, two distinct sides form; Rationalism and Empiricism. Rationalism argues the idea that human beings have some universal knowledge, such as reasoning, mathematics, and ethics, which is then forgotten at birth and only uncovered by experience derived from the senses.
Knowledge is defined as being justified true belief. There is little consensus in the philosophical world as to whether, as it is typical for Empiricists to believe, knowledge comes purely experience or, as is the typical Rationalist line of thought, some of the knowledge we have is gained a priori. In this essay I will first establish that our knowledge of analytic truths is known a priori, which most Empiricists and Rationalists alike agree upon. I shall then argue that all synthetic knowledge is gained a posteriori, through experience. I will then finally show how this idea is consistent with our knowledge of necessary truths.
In the book an Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume, he argues that empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. Immanuel Kant on the other hand exclaims that knowledge is innate. Although Hume puts up some good arguments, the following paper will discuss a couple holes in his a posteriori theory which causes it to become unstable and ultimately unreliable.
For a lengthy period of time, philosophers have been fiercely debating the classification of philosophical epistemology into two categories: rationalism and empiricism. Empiricism is the idea that knowledge can only be gained through obtaining facts via observation or experimentation, while rationalism is obtaining knowledge through logical reasoning . Though rationalism and empiricism are very viable methods of thought in philosophy on their own, these philosophical schools’ arguments become much stronger when used in conjunction. This is mainly due to the fact that by following empiricism, we gain knowledge through observation that we will be able to interpret using rationalism. Using these two methods in tandem would allow philosophical thinkers to approach many questions in a more holistic manner. This way of thought is very reminiscent of the scientific method , and this method has proven itself time and time again throughout history. If the scientific method was not an effective way of solving scientific problems, then scientists using it would have invented a new way to gather information. However, this method is still strong, and a combination of empiricism and rationalism would prove to be just as effective.
Rationalism has been a long rival with its counterpart of empiricism. Rationalism is defined as being “the view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge” and that the “rationalist asserts that a class of
Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibnitz are all given credit for developing rationalism. Rationalism is the idea that reason and logic are the basis of knowledge. It says that knowledge is innate, and that it cannot come from sources such as the senses. Rationalists believe that we are all born with a means of obtaining truth and knowledge. Empiricism also came about in the 17th Century, mostly through the ideas of the philosophers Locke and Bacon.
In his Critique of Pure Reason Kant set out to establish a theory of human understanding. His approach was to synthesise the opposing views of empiricism and rationalism. He took the empirical principle that 'all our knowledge begins with experience' [p.1] as a foundation of his philosophy, following Locke and Hume. In contrast to them, however, he also included the rationalist view that posits the existence of an apparatus of human understanding that is prior to experience, and is essential in order that we have experience at all. Thus, for Kant, the human mind does not begin simply as a tabula rasa, as supposed by Locke, but must necessarily have an innate structure in order that we may understand the world.
Empiricism is based on the belief that human beings enter the world a blank slate, or tabula rasa, without any innate knowledge. Empiricists believe that we aquire all of our knowledge through experiences. Hume is an Empiricists who is lead to skepticism through rigorously applying Occam's razor to the theories of previous philosophers. Hume is sure that the simplest theory will be the most efficient.
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
We gain knowledge in through our ways of knowing which are mainly perception, reason and language. We use them to find knowledge because we justify our claims and beliefs by their use, thus, our evidences, because they get us closer to the truth. To accept something as knowledge, it must be considered true, one must believe it and there must be justification why the person knows it, therefore these ways of knowing aid in the process for our quest for knowledge. In conclusion, in order to obtain knowledge all of these three attributes have to be integrated in some type of way, and due to the changing nature of all three of them, knowledge is always changing and it is dynamic, leading to the fact that knowledge can be discarded. The questions b...
Immanuel Kant wanted to bring together empiricist and rationalist. Empiricism is the theory the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. Rationalism is the theory that reason rather than experience is the foundation of certainty in knowledge. Empiricists tried to understand Kant’s epistemological theory through reason. In the field of epistemology no body surpasses philosopher Immanuel Kant, even in modern philosophy nobody has come close to further explaining his views. His viewpoint affects most every other kind of philosophy. The empiricists tried to begin understanding epistemology through knowing and understanding the external world, Kant believed that it was the human that creates or imposes itself on the external world when pertaining to certain things and knowledge. Where Descartes understood the relationship between the mind and the world and how we process information. Kant thought this interaction was impossible, he went on to expose the logical error Descartes was never able to fully appreciate, in particular that no matter where or what is happening to a person at any given time that same person cannot say that what is happening is really existing . The link between the person and the unknown was never really made substantial and therefore everything would have to be questioned.
The empiricists were a group of individuals who believed humans were born with a clean slate and gained knowledge using there five senses; sight, taste, hearing, touch and smell. Through our five sense we are able to understand reality and gain a better understanding of the world. The most notable of the of the empiricists was Berkeley, Aristotle, Kant and the founder of empiricism John Locke. On the other hand, were the rationalist and they believed humans are born with knowledge and have to use reason to discover the answers within them. The opposite of empiricist, rationalist believe that our senses are useless because the answers are in us. The most notable of the rationalist was Plato,