When Rationalism and Empiricism Collide: the Best of Both Worlds

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.

Additionally, these two methods of thought complement each other quite nicely. For example, scientists often ponder the origins of the universe. Most of them fall back upon the Big Bang Theory, which is commonly explained as a “violent event” that was caused by the expansion of a “single point in space” (Big Bang). However, no one knows what happened before the Big Bang occurred because there is no evidence supporting anything existing beforehand. At this point, a rational approach must be taken to infer the origi...

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...ities to the scientific method, the combination of these two philosophical schools is proven to be an effective method of thought because it provides a holistic approach to the truth itself.

Works Cited

Aquinas, Thomas. "Summa Theologica." Classics of Philosophy. Ed. Louis P. Pojman and Lewis Vaughn. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. 443-53. Print.

"The Big Bang." NASA Science. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. .

Descartes, Rene. "Meditations on First Philosophy." Classical Library. 2001. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. .

Hume, David. "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding." Secular Web: Atheism, Agnosticism, Naturalism, Skepticism and Secularism. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. .