...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. With rationalism, believing in innate ideas means to have ideas before we are born.-for example, through reincarnation. Plato best explains this through his theory of the forms, which is the place where everyone goes and attains knowledge before they are taken back to the “visible world”. Innate ideas can explain why some people are just naturally better at some things than other people are- even if they have had the same experiences. Believing that reason is the main source of knowledge is another clear distinction of rationalism. Rationalists believe that the 5 senses only give you opinions, not reasons. For example, in Descartes’ wax argument, he explains how a candle has one shape to begin with- but once the candle is lit, it begins to melt, lose its fragrance, and take on a completely different shape than it had started with. This argument proves that our senses can be deceiving and that they should not be trusted. Deduction is the third characteristic of rationalism, which is to prove something with certainty rather than reason. For example, Descartes attempted to prove the existence of God through deductive reasoning in his third meditation. It went something like this: “I have an...
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...Rationalism values rational thought applied to subjective experience. The rationalistic worldview assumes that only by first understanding ourselves can people truly understand the world around us. Participation in the intellectual and emotional process of self-reflection is the means by which one achieves greater self-understanding. Patterns of our deepest levels of subjective and emotional processes and influences of the past on the present can be discovered and understood. As our understanding of ourselves changes, we are better able to make rational decisions. Personal imperfections are accepted as inevitable expressions of one's humanness and as a basis for self-improvement. In the rationalist worldview, human possibility is limited. Indeed, a certain degree of resignation is considered healthy. Honest self-perception and freedom from illusion are the goals—to reconcile the ideal with what is possible. In Freud's famous words, the best that one can hope for is to exchange "irrational misery for common unhappiness" (Breuer & Freud, 1895/ 1955, p. 305). The limitations of life are accepted; not all is possible, not all is redeemable, not all potentialities are realizable. Nothing can be done to undo the tragic or traumatic facts of one's life. The clock cannot be turned back, death cannot be avoided, and human nature cannot be perfected. The client and the therapist engage in a search for patterns and processes in the understanding of old meanings and then create ones that...
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...Education The classroom harbors individuals with comprehensive distinct challenges. It is the teacher’s responsibility to be observant of each learner’s needs in context with the community in which they live. The African philosophy of kindness, community and compassion forms the basis for this. In the following essay, the broad, dynamic framework of African philosophy will be explored as well as the ways in which this philosophy can be used to assist a withdrawn, unconfident learner. What is the African philosophy? African philosophy can be traced as far back as the days of the Ancient Egyptians. It was a reaction to the difficulties in Africa caused by the rule of the Western thought. It was a fight for an African identity. In Western philosophy, the individual is the greater focus, however in African philosophy the focus is on the community. Tradition and culture also form an important part of this framework of education. There are 4 types of African philosophy. Ethnic philosophy This is a “holistic” approach and considers the “whole” involvement of human beings. This is an important approach to implement in the classroom. To take a “holistic” approach with each learner would be to consider the child’s age, background, culture, emotional and physical needs. It is also essential to consider the learner’s past experiences. Only once all this information is in place can a teacher do further investigations as to why a child is withdrawn. While ethnic...
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...Locke’s argument against innate ideas. In Locke’s ‘An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’, he argues for his view of empiricism, concerning the origin of ideas. A conflicting position for this subject is rationalism. According to rationalists, ideas are innate. However, Locke was an empiricist and believed that ideas came from experience. In this essay I aim to explore Locke’s position on the formation of ideas and consider how his arguments may be criticised or indeed supported. According to Locke, an idea is “the object of the understanding when a man thinks” (I.i.8). In his ‘Essay’, Locke argues against the notion that ideas are innate in humans. He argued that ideas were formed from sensory experience rather than being innate. By innate, we mean that we were born with the ideas. Locke mentions the argument for innate ideas being that there are universally accepted ideas, so they must be already present in people when they are born. In the ‘Essay’, Locke said that the existence of innate ideas could be disproved if another way was found in which all mankind could come to agree on a certain truth. I think there is a weakness in this argument. In order for his point to be relevant, he would need to find this truth that is universally accepted and prove that it was born from experience. Therefore, the argument that innate ideas are responsible for universal truths is the best explanation that can be given. Although Locke’s argument does not have a lot to justify it...
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...Immanuel Kant was born during a time of great discovery in the fields of the physical sciences, by the likes of Sir Isaac Newton. These discoveries included Newton’s three laws of motion as well as the explanation of gravity, all of which were discovered via methods which are now referred to as the scientific method. At the time, these methods were known to be used by empiricists, who maintained that the objects of sensation are the only proper objects of knowledge, that all ideas and knowledge are derived from the senses; through reasoning and observation. In contrast to the thoughts of empiricists, another school of thought existed, referred to as continental rationalism. Rationalists argued that some knowledge and ideas were not derived strictly through sensation, but could also be innate to reason. These innate ideas would give knowledge of a greater reality, which would be known without having to be realized by the traditional senses. This was referred to as being the supersensible reality, in which God existed. As empiricism believed that knowledge was of the sensible reality, that which can be sensed, led to admitting that there is no reality outside of what can be sensed. As such, there could be no immortality of the soul or of the freedom of will; both being unable to be proved through the senses. This proved to have great implications with what is taught through religion, as there is a supersensible reality in religion. Although both rationalists and empiricists...
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...Mind, Meaning, and Metaphysics DALILE, Boushra Rationalism vs. Empiricism: A Deficient Distinction Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It explores how knowledge can be acquired and considers its limits and validity. Rationalism and empiricism are distinct epistemological schools of thought. Among others, they differ significantly regarding the source of concepts and ideas. Prominent rationalists, including Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, argue that one must rely on reason as a purely deductive process to attain justified truths about reality (Cottingham 1988). In contrast, empiricists, including Locke, Berkeley and Hume, argue that knowledge is derived from the role of experience and sense data to formulate ideas. The question of what is the ideal foundation of knowledge is still debatable to date. I will argue that the rationalist vs. empiricist distinction is not exhaustive, and that carefully considering the approach-discipline relationship is crucial. In order to support this claim, this essay will discuss differences between rationalism and empiricism. Next, it will closely examine the advantages of each, drawing on the works of René Descartes and David Hume. Finally, this essay will identify problems with both theories and argue that reason and experience can together generate factual knowledge with respect to the subject matter. The major difference between rationalism and empiricism concerns their knowledge basis....
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...Epistemology PHL 215: Philosophy Methods and Applications November 21, 2011 Epistemology is a branch of study in philosophy that studies knowledge. “The broad definition accords the derivation of the term empiricism from the ancient Greek work empeira, “experience”.” (Empiricism, 2011) Epistemology consist of many elements surrounding justified belief such as what constitutes a justified belief; a belief could be justified because certain factors are present, or “what we experience through clusters of sensory impressions” (Moore, Bruder, 2011 pg.129) or a belief could be justified due to someone mental state. Epistemology distinguishes between adequate knowledge and inadequate knowledge. Copernicus during the 1600’s believed that theoretical knowledge was determined based on past events. Galileo fought with him in separating science from the church. Galileo claimed that individuals should be able to question and investigate matters which may be false in experience or reason. Galileo did not question the Church to rule in their domain, but matters which could be shown to be true or false in life’s observations should not be subject to scripture or justified only by scripture. “It is the separation of ethics from knowledge (of nature, history, etc), of the separation of science from the legitimate domain of the Church; he claimed the right of the people to investigate profane matters, questions which were capable of falsification in experience or reason...
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...Essay The Matrix and Chapter 28 of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe are two examples of conflicting texts that demonstrate opposing ways of viewing the world around us. The Matrix follows the views of an empiricist, set in a mental prison where people rely on their senses to an extent where they are completely oblivious to what is real. Chapter 28 of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe however focuses on a rationalist view through the character the Ruler of the Universe emphasising his day-to-day lifestyle and how he responds to what he conceives to be real. Although these texts present conflicting views upon the world, they are similar in the way they represent their ideas, and it is through these similarities that rationalism and empiricism maintain a conflicting existence. In the Matrix the director intentionally depicts Neo as being the embodiment of empiricism. The directors use of imagery through sombre lighting and choice of plain character costumes, lacking in brightness, colour and their ability to stand out portrays the world Neo is living in and by extension how he views it. This is also present in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ at the beginning of chapter one where Alice feels bored and drowsy whilst sitting at the river-bank with her elder sister. In one scene Morpheus directly references Carroll by offering Neo the chance to discover what is real. “… You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and you believe...
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...German Philosophy: Kant’s concept of reason Critique of Pure Reason Prateek S Kolhar (EE10B109) 29th April 2014 1. Introduction During the period of enlightenment in Europe, there were 2 schools of thought that talked about the way we acquire knowledge: Rationalism and Empiricism. Rationalists like Leibniz claimed that knowledge is innate, that is, we are born with all the knowledge and the experiences that we have in this world just help us in uncovering/ remembering this knowledge. Empiricist believed that all knowledge is got only through experience in other words we are born with our minds/souls like a clean slate and the experiences write on them. With this struggle between the two schools of thought enlightenment Europe was striving to find ways to arrive at a consensus about some of these aforementioned central issues of theory of knowledge. And the champion of a philosopher who accomplished with task was Immanuel Kant. Kant borrowed many concepts from both empiricism and rationalism. But he felt that the many of the rationalist ideas were too simplistic and dogmatic and some of the empiricist ideas we too skeptic about the ability of humans to acquire true knowledge. As a part of his critical philosophy, with an aim to resolve this problem of theory of knowledge he wrote 3 critiques: Critique of pure reason, Critique of practical reason and Critique of judgment. Critique of Pure Reason talks about the process of knowledge acquisition in natural sciences, the way...
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...YOU ARE EITHER BORN SMART OR YOUR NOT!!! It has been beliefs that you are born with the amount of smarts that you will possess. Many people think or live their life through disinterested thinking. This does not allow their brain to focus on the knowledge that is being ingested. The normal functioning human brain at birth is like a sponge ready to absorb the knowledge that is being spilled upon it. Under Plato’s theory the brain can discover its knowledge through disciplined study based on our ability to reason, understand and evaluate. Socrates theories whether beliefs are opinions or do them hold some universal truth. Here are two famous quotes that can give reason this belief is not true; Whatever your mind can conceive and can believe, it can achieve ≈ Napoleon Hill Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about ≈John Demartini The social environment plays a major role in the development of intelligence. You can be born a genesis and also be molded into one. A baby can be born with a certain amount of intelligence but having poor social nurturing can cause your intelligence not to grow to the full potential of their genes. The power of the mind when properly focused can achieve whatever you want. Sometimes knowledge or smarts is mistaken for a belief. A belief can be a thought or idea passed down through generations. The belief must first be analyzed and proven to be considered a form of knowledge to become part of the “smarts” that develops...
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...Rationalism is a philosophical perspective and is any view appealing to intellectual and deductive reason, as opposed to sensory experience or any religious teachings as the source of knowledge or justification. Thus, it holds that some propositions are knowable by us by intuition alone, while others are knowable by being deduced through valid arguments from intuited propositions. It relies on the idea that reality has a rational structure in that all aspects of it can be grasped through mathematical and logical principles, and not simply through sensory experience. The most famous rationalists were Descartes and Spinoza. Empiricism is a philosophical perspective to counter the rationalism of the 17th century. Empiricists were philosophers who felt that everything in our mind comes from our experience through the senses. They heavily critiqued the rationalists. Locke, Berkeley and Hume were the most famous empiricists. Throughout this age, the Philosophers evolved all thinking of different ways of understanding our purpose in life and how we work along with various other explanations involving the world around them. Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist and writer of the Age of Reason. He had a desire to achieve insight into the nature of man and the universe. He has been called the "Father of Modern Philosophy" and he was one of the most influential philosophers in modern philosophy and many believe he was very ahead of his time. Many...
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...Philosophy Essay (Descartes vs. Locke) Socrates once said, “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.” Several philosophers contradicted Socrates’ outlook and believed that true knowledge was in fact attainable. This epistemological view however had several stances to it, as philosophers held different beliefs in regards to the derivation of true knowledge. Rationalists believed that the mind was the source of true knowledge, while in Empiricism, true knowledge derived from the senses. Rene Descartes, a rationalist, and John Locke, an empiricist, were prime examples of epistemologists who were seen to differentiate greatly within each of their philosophies. However, although Descartes and Locke’s ideas did contrast in that sense, they both shared common concepts that helped mould the basis of their ideas. Descartes and Locke both agreed that there were things in life that exist that we can be certain of. For Descartes, human experiences did not provide sufficient proof of existence. He indicated that through his Dream Conjecture and his Evil-Demon Theory (Paquette 205). Descartes stated that we cannot be certain if reality is a dream or not, thus questioning our existence (Paquette 205). In his Evil-Demon Theory, Descartes claimed that for all he knew, an evil demon could be putting thoughts into his head, making him think that reality was true when it was in fact false (Paquette 205). Ultimately, all this thinking resulted in Descartes coming to the conclusion that...
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...Epistemological Comparison and Contrast Dorothy M. Conner University of Phoenix Epistemological Comparison and Contrast Descartes ' Theory of Knowledge Rene Descartes is one of the most renowned rationalists of the modern age who asserts that knowledge can be obtained by means of reason. He claims that in the acquisition of knowledge one should be able to distinguish what is true and what is false. This leads to his opposition against the idea of experience as a source of knowledge As Descartes claims it, one should not rely on experience as a source of knowledge for the reason that experience is deceptive as how a person's sensory organs can bring deception with the way he or she perceives things (i.e. the bending of the pencil when submerged in water). Descartes furthers states that because of this fallibility of experience one cannot really arrive at true knowledge by merely being dependent on what he or she perceives through experience. As a result of Descartes treatment of experience, he suggests that to attain genuine and true knowledge, one should defer his or her judgment on things that are represented to him or her by experience unless such are presently proven to be unquestionable. Descartes is a perplexity in many ways. Although he has a refreshing distaste for the voodoo logic of his day steeped as it was in the questionable science of the scholastic movement, when provoked he was equally capable of skewing his own thinking when confronted with the entrenched...
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...A History of Modern Psychology University of Phoenix Flaur Conde Psy 310 The History of Psychology is something that is important to many psychologists everywhere. The history is celebrated by many centennial celebrations that started in 1979 (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 2). In the 1960’s when the history of psychology caught interest research of psychology’s past became prominent (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 2). History is important, because it lets people know where they came from, and what mistakes were made, and what discoveries were made, and how we can apply the past to future learning (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 3). One of the forerunners to the beginning philosophy to psychology is Rene Descartes. The Renaissance gave him a great stage to start with, because it had already started the changing of thought, made science more accepted, and made the approved teachings of the church mundane. Descartes wanted to search for a system where all information could be united (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 32). He believed that knowledge can be found through reasoning, and wouldn’t accept any truth unless it could not be doubted (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 32). In the Discourse on Method, Descartes explained his four rules for being able to reason so one could come up with the truth (Goodwin, 2008, pg. 33). The first one is what I stated previously is he would accept information as truth unless it was un-doubtable. The second rule he would take information and break it down to the first stages. The third rule is that...
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...------------------------------------------------- Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (German pronunciation: [ɪˈmaːnu̯eːl ˈkant]; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher from Königsberg in Prussia(today Kaliningrad, Russia) who researched, lectured and wrote on philosophy and anthropology during the Enlightenment at the end of the 18th century.[1] Kant's major work, the Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinen Vernunft, 1781),[2] aimed to unite reason with experience to move beyond what he took to be failures of traditional philosophy and metaphysics. He hoped to end an age of speculation where objects outside experience were used to support what he saw as futile theories, while opposing the skepticism of thinkers such as Berkeley and Hume. He stated: "It always remains a scandal of philosophy and universal human reason that the existence of things outside us ... should have to be assumed merely on faith, and that if it occurs to anyone to doubt it, we should be unable to answer him with a satisfactory proof."[3] Kant proposed a "Copernican Revolution-in-reverse", saying that: "Up to now it has been assumed that all our cognition must conform to the objects; but ... let us once try whether we do not get farther with the problems of metaphysics by assuming that the objects must conform to our cognition."[4] Kant published other important works on ethics, religion, law, aesthetics, astronomy, and history. These included the Critique of Practical Reason(Kritik...
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