This document provides an overview of rationalism and empiricism. It defines rationalism as the view that reason is the primary source of knowledge, superior to the senses. Rationalists believe we can obtain absolute truths about reality through abstract reasoning alone. Empiricism holds that all knowledge comes from experience. Some key rationalist philosophers discussed are Descartes, who is seen as the original rationalist, and Leibniz, who believed in innate concepts. The document also examines empiricist views, defining their three main claims, including that the only genuine knowledge comes from the senses. It discusses John Locke's views on innate ideas, primary and secondary qualities, and the different types of empirical knowledge. Finally, it summarizes George Berkeley

1. RATIONALISM AND
EMPIRICISM
Compiled by DrAS
Sudario, 2020

2. DISCLAIMER
This material is an adaptation of the original presentation of:
Bushra Tabassum. Rationalism. On Slideshre.net. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/heritagecivil/philosophy-history
on October 20, 2020.
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3. RATIONALISM
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4. RATIONALISM
Rationalism is an epistemological position in
which reason is said to be the primary source of
all knowledge, superior to the senses.
In general, rationalists believe that abstract
reasoning can produce undeniable, absolutely
certain truths about nature, existence, and the
whole of reality.
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5. These truths are called a priori,
or innate, ideas – because they
are discovered independently of
experience, without empirical
observation or experimentation.
Descartes stands not only as the
“father of modern philosophy,”
but as the original archetype of
the modern rationalist.
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6. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY OF
RATIONALISM?
Encompasses several strands of thought
all of which usually share the conviction
that REALITY is actually rationale in
nature and that making the proper
deductions is essential in achieving
knowledge.
Latin word ratio, meaning reason-point of
view that states that reason plays the
main role in understanding the world and
obtaining knowledge.
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7. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY OF
RATIONALISM?
is “any view appealing to reason as a
source of knowledge or justification.”
in which the criterion of the truth is
not sensory but intellectual and
deductive.
The philosophical view that regards
reason as the chief source and test of
knowledge. Holding the reality itself
has an inherent logical structure
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8. RATIONALISM=REASO
N
JUSTIFICATION OF OUR BELIEFS
IDEA
SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE
SOURCE OF CONCEPTUAL
APPARATUS
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9. RATIONALISM AND EMPIRICISM
Empiricism: All knowledge of the world
comes from experience
Rationalism: Some knowledge of the world
is independent of experience— that is,
some knowledge is inborn (innate)
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10. CONCEPT
RATIONALISM
Concept rationalism: There are innate
concepts
Leibniz: “. . . can it be denied that there
is much that is innate in our mind, since
we are, so to speak, innate to ourselves,
and since in
being,
ourselves there are unity,
duration, change,activity,
perception, pleasure and a
our
thousand other objects of
intellectual ideas?
substance,
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11. THREE MAIN CLAIMS
Rationalists adopt at least one of three main
claims:
Intuition/Deduction:
Innate Knowledge: We have knowledge of some
truths as part of our innate rational nature.
Experiences may trigger a process by which we
bring this knowledge to consciousness, but the
experiences do not provide us with the
knowledge itself,
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12. Some rationalists also claim, in addition to the
claims above, that the knowledge we gain by
intuition and deduction, as well as the ideas
and instances of knowledge that are innate to
us, are indispensible and could not have been
gained through sense experience, and/or that
reason is superior to experience as a source
of knowledge.
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13. JUDGMENT
RATIONALISM
Judgment rationalism: There are synthetic a
priori truths
We can learn something about the world
independently of experience— from reason
alone
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14. STANDARD OF TRUTH
Descartes proposed that only those things
we can accept as “clear and distinct”
should be accepted as true.
“Clear” he defined as “that which is
present and apparent to an attentive
mind.”
“Distinct” he defined as “that which is so
precise and different from all other objects
that it contains within itself nothing but what
is clear.”
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15. INNATE IDEAS
“Some ideas are present from birth.”
•
• Ideas that
suggestion
do not require the proof or
of sense experience, are
•
•
• It could be theoretically be discovered or brought out from within
the mind of each individual.
• Example is Descartes arguments for the existence of God.
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16. OBJECTIONS TO
RATIONALISM
How can we have knowledge in our minds if we
are not aware of it?
Isn’t to know something to believe it?
How can we believe something without being
aware of it?
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17. Empiricis
m
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18. The 3 Anchor Points of Empiricism:
1. The only sense of genuine knowledge is sense
experience (ie. What you touch, taste, hear, smell, see).
2. Reason is an unreliable and inadequate route to
Knowledge unless it is grounded in the solid foundation of
sense experience.
3. There is no evidence of innate ideas within the mind that
are known apart from experience.
What shortcomings exist in viewing perception
as such a simple 2-way street?
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19. The Tabula Rasa
The notion of innate ideas (ie. Rationalism), as we have already seen, presupposes that certain knowledge is
present from birth. This is different to saying that some types of knowledge are a priori (or true by definition).
Empiricists would not want to deny, for example, that "All bachelors are unmarried" is a truth independent of
experience. They would, however, deny that such a truth could be innate.
For the Empiricists, the mind is a Tabula Rasa (which is Latin for "blank slate"). When we learn or experience
things, it is as if the mind is being written on. For the Rationalists, however, the mind is like a computer: the
hardware already has some functions (innate ideas) before the software (experiences, specific knowledge) is
loaded.
The new Will Farrell full of
knowing
knowledg
e
Hi, kids!
Through experience we “fill”
our heads with knowledge
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20. Question:
If innate ideas don't exist, is it possible to learn anything)?
Awesome
Ramp
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21. Simple ideas:
Exercise:
Pick 3 objects in the room you are in and list five simple ideas about them. Once you have done this,
see what complex ideas each of the simple ones might help you form.
The Empiricists want to argue that all our ideas come from experience. So, how do we understand the world?
Locke thought that our experiences provided us with what he termed simple and complex ideas. Simple ideas
might include the redness of a rose, the smell of coffee, the taste of sugar or the sensation of heat. We
thereafter use these ideas as the basis for reflection, combining and comparing them to form complex ideas in
order to understand the world.
An example of this can be seen in the way we might get a better understanding of heat. I might burn
my hand on a flame, but also on an extremely cold piece of ice. Reflecting on this and other examples
I may come to the conclusion that it is not heat which is solely responsible for burns, but difference in
temperature (in this case, the difference between my hand and the hot and cold things). Thus, the
simple sensations and experiences form the basis for more abstract ideas such as this.
The Taco Bell nachos are red...
and green...and yellow...
and warm...and spicy...some are crispy...
some are soft...and salty smelling...
Taco Bell nachos
Hwhy hwouldn't you eat such hwonderfuly
tasty nachos? Hwhat in the hworld is
stopping you?
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22. Primary and Secondary Qualities
If we reject, as the Empiricists do, the idea that all our knowledge comes from rational principles, we are left
with a major question: How can we tell which of our perceptions are real or true? Locke's answer is to suggest
the existence of what he calls primary and secondary qualities.
First of all, let us consider an object - a table, for example. Now, Locke's view is that certain qualities of the
table are primary qualities of the object (such as the table's shape and size), but others are produced by
powers in the object itself, which act on our senses to produce sensations and impressions. Such things as
colour, taste and temperature are therefore secondary whilst other primary qualities include number (how
many objects there are) and motion (an object's speed or movement).
The main thing Locke was trying to do is to limit knowledge to the things that could be said to be primary
qualities. So, as far as the table is concerned, such things as its size, shape and weight are fixed and
measurable. Its colour, on the other hand, is a matter of subjective opinion.
Exercise
Of the simple and complex ideas you listed in the previous example, which are primary and which are
secondary? Go through your lists and mark P or S next to each one.
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23. Thought Experiment:
1. Have you found that the perceived color of a piece of clothing changes when you view it
by the light of a lightbulb, a neon light, semidarkness, or sunlight? For example, have you
ever thought that you were putting on matching socks only to find when you stepped outside
that one was black and one was blue?
2. Why doesn't the shape, size, or motion of an object appear to change in different
lights?
3. Have you ever disagreed with a friend as to whether the room is too hot or the iced tea
too sweet? Why doesn't it make sense to say one of you is right and the other is
mistaken?
4. Hold a cut, raw onion under your nose as you bite into an apple. Does the normal taste of
the apple appear to be different under these circumstances?
These thought experiments illustrate the fact that
some properties, such as size, shape, or motion,
are constant, whereas other properties, such
as color, temperature, or taste, can change from
one circumstance to the next.
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24. Empirical Knowledge
Locke considered that knowledge could be of certain types depending on how ideas could be compared. The
idea of black, for instance, could be contrasted with that of white; other ideas seem to share a common source,
such as light and fire, which quite often go together. These ways of building up information, Locke thought, are
the main means by which we turn simple ideas into complex ones.
But how certain is such knowledge? Locke considered that there are 3 main types of knowledge:
Intuitive. This form of knowledge is the most certain because it seems the most obvious to us and the most
difficult to doubt. This would be such things as "I have a body", "Black is not white", but also - according to
Locke - "God exists". These are so obvious that we accept them intuitively.
Demonstrative. When we begin to put simple ideas together to form complex ones, we are
demonstrating something. So, for example, if I compare the heat of the Sun with the heat of a fire, I
may demonstrate that they are both made of similar substances.
Sensitive. This form of knowledge is the most uncertain because it relies merely on the evidence of the
senses. If I look to see how many chairs there are in another room, I am relying on sensitive
knowledge, which - as Descartes has shown - can, in some cases, be mistaken.
I do believe this
is a most capital
idea! I particularly
rule.
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25. Thought Experiment:
How would Locke give an empirical account of the
origin of the following ideas by compounding, relating,
and abstracting from the ideas formed through
experience:
1. Infinity
2. God
3. Moral goodness or evil
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26. Berkeley:
1) All we know is what we find in experience
2) We can never know or even make sense of a material world that allegedly lies
outside our own, private experiences
Conclusion: from Locke's empiricism to the
denial of the world of independently
existing matter.
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27. THANK YOU!!!