Epistemological Differences: Reason vs Experience

Rationalism and Empiricism in the 18th Century

Continental rationalism and British empiricism are philosophical currents that arose in the eighteenth century. Differences between the two schools lie in a particular epistemological assumption: the nature of knowledge. When asked about the origin of knowledge, they respond differently. The biggest difference is the way they treat the role of reason and sense perception in the process of acquiring knowledge.

1. The Rationalist Perspective: Rationalists assert the primacy of reason as a general cognitive ability, giving sense perception and experience a minor role. Everything based on knowledge that comes from the senses will be suspect, or even false, if not subject to reason. Knowledge will not be considered valid until reason confirms it as such. For them, there are innate ideas and mental contents; i.e., valid knowledge that has not been acquired through sense perception. The formal sciences, like mathematics and deductive logic, are the models of knowledge. Philosophy is intended to achieve the same degree of certainty and accuracy.
2. The Empiricist Perspective: Empiricists state that all knowledge is valid only if it comes from sense experience (experience through the senses), because it is the source of validity for all knowledge. Reason, in every case, works with the data acquired by the senses, but without input from them, its speculations would not be valid. Since all knowledge is ultimately derived from sense perception, one cannot admit the existence of innate ideas or mental contents prior to experience. If there were such ideas, they would inform us about the world. The empirical sciences, like physics or chemistry, in which development plays an important role, are prized as models of knowledge.

Historical Context and Philosophical Roots

This debate is reminiscent of Plato's theory of knowledge, which reinforces the rationalist line, as it is difficult to explain essential elements in knowledge through sensory perception alone. Aristotle, for his part, anticipates the prospect of empiricism through his sensitive understanding.

The Aim of Rationalist Philosophy

In Rationalism, the aim of philosophy is to discern the possible existence of a single science that unifies the multiple sciences. With this intention, it raises the need to develop a single method for all knowledge that is rigorous enough to eliminate error from the scope of human knowledge. This method should serve as a firm and solid basis for the building of knowledge. The proposed method is clearly based on Cartesian mathematics and consists of four parts.