One’s position on the Empiricist-Rationalist continuum may be based on the views of peers and teachers on the topic, the ideas surrounding Propperian Science, the conflicting views on Idealized Science, the pedagogy of Thought Experiments, and finally opinions on Correlational Studies. On one end of the spectrum, Empiricism focuses on knowledge that is obtained through experience; on the contrary, rationalism strongly believes that knowledge is independently gained (Markie, 2013). Thus, the two opposing views continue generate controversy on the topic of scientific observations. In response to this weeks reading, I have chosen to reaffirm my position that both rationalism and empiricism are important for building scientific knowledge, and that empiricism …show more content…
19).” The importance of prior knowledge and human experiences are essential building blocks in the process of scientific observation. In reviewing peers responses to the Empiricist-Rationalist continuum, Julie Plunkett stated in her post, “Rationalism and empiricism are essential for building scientific knowledge. We should not discount the importance of observations or experiments; nor should we ignore the importance of reason and theoretical frameworks in scientific discoveries (Plunkett, 2016).” I strongly agree with Julie’s statement that both spectrums are essential to science education. Additionally Sinthi Neal notes in her response that, “although, there is validity in both claims, I propose that used together we can get a better sense of our world and in generating ‘data’ that can be useful in applying what we learn to different realms (Markie, 2013).” Sinthi also brings forth an important consideration in the advantages to applying both empiricism and rationalism