Rationalism and Empiricism

Harold Rivera-Vargas
PHI 100-24N
Prof. Gilliland

Empiricist argue that every idea we have comes from something we had experienced before. While rationalist argue that we have some ideas that are already present but the majority comes from experiences. I think that empiricism makes more sense to me because we learn as we move through life. When we experience something for the first time, we learn from that experience so that when we face the same situation in the future we know what to do. Now, I think when a human is born they do not have any ideas that are innate to them. When we are born we are a sponge, ready to absorb everything we can learn. Descartes uses the example of the wax, how it changes when it melts yet it keeps being wax. Thinking about a person, they might go through some things in their lives that would change their character but they still are a person, but that’s kind of obvious. For a different example, when grapes are harvested for wine making, they are smash and purée so that they can become wine. The grapes are changing their identity yet they are still grapes. Even after they've became wine and been aged, they still retain properties of the grapes they were before.

Explanatory breadth: Empiricism explains the origin of more ideas than rationalism. Even though rationalism includes that some ideas are learned, it also includes ideas that are innate but those innate ideas are a much smaller group than those ideas that are leaned from experience. So since rationalism is including innate and experienced ideas.

Explanatory depth: In this case empiricism, which is that all ideas are from experience explains the origins of those ideas as well as rationalism, but rationalism traces them back to those innate ideas.

Simplicity: Empiricism is much simpler than rationalism. Empiricism is limited, which is a misnomer, to ideas learned from experiences, which makes it less favorable to have hidden errors. Rationalism, possess in its real innate and experienced ideas, which, in my opinion, would make it more susceptible to errors in its logic.  

Conservatism: I think empiricism is more current to our belief system than rationalism. Since we are more likely to comprehend that we learn ideas as we experience them. Some people might argue that love, hate, etc., are innate ideas but that would be erroneous since they aren’t ideas, but emotions. In my opinion, it would be more difficult for people to comprehend that there may be innate ideas that we haven’t experienced.

1.       Empiricism and Rationalism are the most plausible explanation of the origin of ideas.

2.       Empiricism has much more explanatory breadth and simplicity, whereas Rationalism has a little more explanatory depth.

3.       Therefore, Empiricism is the best explanation of the origin of ideas.