Compromise Between Empiricism and Rationalism

When it comes to epistemology, empiricism and rationalism are two of the biggest

theories of how humans come to know what they know. As a result, there are many different

arguments and opinions regarding these two theories. Both rationalism and empiricism have

their strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, I believe that a combination of both theories is

how humans know what they know. Empiricism and rationalism both have their strengths,

weaknesses, and arguments that theoretically work better together.

Empiricism is the theory that humans gain knowledge through only their sensory

perception and experience. For example, the first time you’ve seen a carrot, your senses

worked together to give you the knowledge about a carrot. Your eyes see the shape and

colour, you touch and feel, you taste, you smell, and you hear the crunch of a carrot. That is

how you would have come to know what a carrot is. It is a logical theory that many

philosophers such as Francis Bacon and John Locke agree with. Locke actually created the

idea that all humans are born with a “tabula rasa”, meaning “blank slate”. Locke once said,

“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.” He rejected the idea that humans

were all born with innate ideas and argued that when we are born, our minds are empty.

Therefore, the only way to gain knowledge would be limited through our senses and

experience. Francis Bacon also contributed greatly to the theory of empiricism. He created

the inductive method to acquire knowledge. This method involves observing, gathering

information, obtaining samples, and drawing a general conclusion. This is a method still used

to this day by many people. However, as mentioned before, empiricism does have its flaws.

Renee Descartes pointed out the fact that our senses alone can’t always be entirely accurate.

Descartes wasn’t wrong and some empiricists actually agreed with him, as do I. It is logical

that our senses can sometimes deceive us. For example, one might think they saw something
in the corner of their eye when in reality there is nothing there. Therefore, gaining knowledge

entirely based on our senses and experiences isn’t completely true but it still does have a very

convincing argument.

Rationalism is the theory that humans obtain knowledge through reason and logic.

This theory argues that experience and sensory data are not certain and we cannot rely on

them alone, which is why humans use reason. Most rationalists, unlike empiricists, believe

that humans were born with innate ideas. Noam Chomsky, a linguist, argued that innate ideas

assists in the development of language in young children. He theorized that the reason

children are able to easily learn languages is because they are born with a blueprint that

allows them to grasp the idea with ease. It doesn’t matter what language you speak because

of universal grammar. Universal grammar states that all languages share similar traits.

Chomsky’s theory of the innate idea of language was widely recognized and supported. Plato

was also a well known philosopher that was a rationalist. Plato said, “Ideas are the source of

all things.” By this, he meant that all of our knowledge starts with the innate ideas of things in

this world. He believed that there is no guarantee of truth in what we experience, which is

why we must rely on reason. Plato’s allegory of the cave showed how human perception

cannot give accurate information. It used the examples of prisoners chained up facing a wall

with a burning fire behind them. The only things they are able to see are shadows of objects

passing by which they end up mistaking for reality. This shows how our senses cannot

guarantee that what we perceive is true. Even so, like empiricism, there are some flaws within

rationalism. Reason alone cannot be the basis for all knowledge. One might think that they

are logically correct about something but experimental observations could prove otherwise.

Reasoning as a way to gain knowledge can be incorrect since it is based on nothing. Although

it has its flaws, rationalism can also be a logical argument as well as empiricism.
 Are you a rationalist or an empiricist? I believe that I am both. I’ve come to

compromise between both of these theories. I definitely agree with the fact that obtaining

human knowledge begins with our senses and experiences. However, there are many things

that we know about that our senses and experiences cannot account for. Rationalism explains

how we are able to know and understand things that we have never even experienced. For

example, a triangle is a triangle because it has 3 sides. We would still know this fact even

without our senses. This is because there are some concepts that already exist in our minds.

Immanuel Kant, a philosopher, also believed in both rationalism and empiricism. Kant said,

“All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with

reason. There is nothing higher than reason." I think that this quote considerably sums up

how rationalism and empiricism are both valid theories that can coincide with each other.

Empiricism and rationalism are two of the greatest theories on the obtainment of

human knowledge. Empiricism states that we gain knowledge through our senses and

experience. However, as Descartes argued, our senses can sometimes deceive us. Rationalism

on the other hand, states that we gain knowledge through reasoning and logic. But, reasoning

is based on reasoning alone and nothing else that can account for its reliability. I can

acknowledge both the strengths and weaknesses of empiricism and rationalism, but I feel that

a combination of both works the best. Knowledge begins with our senses and experiences but

also rely on reasoning to account for the many things we know, but have never experienced.

Overall, I believe that a compromise of these two theories are able to significantly explain

how humans acquire knowledge.

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https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/51746.John_Locke

Joy, R. (2019, June 14). Born This Way: Chomsky’s Theory Explains Why We’re So Good at

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https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/chomsky-theory#innate-skill

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Markie, P. (2017). Rationalism vs. Empiricism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Retrieved from Stanford.edu website:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/

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http://people.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/Notes/plato.html

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https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/descartes/section2/page/3/