Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature, sources and limits of knowledge and reasonable belief. With relation to justified belief, epistemology involves understanding the concept of justification, how to justify justified beliefs and internal and external justification of beliefs. On the other hand, in knowledge, epistemology is concerned with the necessities and conditions of knowledge, sources of knowledge, the structure and limits of knowledge.Therefore, epistemology revolves around creation and dissemination of knowledge in the specific areas of inquiry. This paper will focus on Rene Descartes’ ‘rationalistic theory of knowledge’ and David Hume’s ‘empirical theory of knowledge’, the two major epistemological theories.
A Comparison Of The Two Theories
The two theories differ in that empiricism holds that origin of knowledge is sense experience and sensory perception while rationalism holds that origin of knowledge is through mathematical and logical principles. Rationalists believe that all knowledge including scientific knowledge can be gained through the use of reason alone and they observed that this was impossible in practice for human beings except in specific fields such as mathematics.
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Rationalism involves the introduction of mathematical methods into philosophy. As opposed to sensory experience or religious teachings, rationalism appeals to intellectual and deductive reason as the source of knowledge or justification.On the other hand, empiricism holds that the origin of all knowledge is sense experience and it emphasizes the role of experience and evidence particularly sensory perception in the formation of ideas (page 708). Therefore, rationalism holds that humans know some propositions by intuition while others are known through deduction through valid arguments from intuited propositions. On the contrary, empiricism argues that the only knowledge humans have is posteriori (based on experience) and they discount the notion of innate ideas thereby disagreeing with the notion that mind is born with ideas or knowledge and is not a blank slate at birth.
In the article, page 21, Descartes states that she’d rather consider the thoughts that spring up in her mind and were not inspired by anything beyond nature alone. Rationalists believe in thought as the main attribute of man and the knowledge of existence does not depend on things that their existence is not yet unknown (page, 22). Rationalism states that the mind can apprehend some truth directly without requiring medium of the senses. It is based on the impression that reality has a rational structure and all its aspects can be gripped through mathematical and logical principles and not simply through sensory experience (Fink, 2002).Empiricism believes that faculties may mimic the discernments of the senses but never can they completely grasp the force and vivacity of the original sentiment. For instance, Hume gives an example of the phrase ‘a man is in love.’ He explains that the meaning of the phrase is easily understood and an individual is able to create a conception of the situation. On the other hand, the individual will not mistake the created conception with the ‘agitations and disorders of the passion’ (Hume, 1985).
My View on the Two Theories
From the two theories, I prefer the empiricism theory. I agree with the theories explanation that knowledge is gained through experience and ideas are formed through sensory perception. When a baby is born, the brain will perform its involuntary functions (such as breathing and heart beating) and only the mother will direct it to feed and learn everything else. Even geniuses were not born with knowledge, it is only through experience are they able to process the evidence quickly to create ideas and other innovations. Hume separates reasoning in two kinds, demonstrative reasoning (involves the concerning relations of ideas) and moral reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence (page 715). Combining the two kinds of reasoning gives us a clear picture of how human beings acquire knowledge and justified belief.
References
Fink, C. K. 2002. God, the Way and the Self: A Multi-Cultural Introduction to Philosophy . Kendall/ Hunt Publishing Company, 4:17-24
Hume, D. 1977. An Enquiry of Concerning Human Understanding. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 2: 705-717
