Rationalism and empiricism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rationalism and empiricism - Essay ExampleOn the contrary, justification involves development of knowledge through acquaintance. Epistemology compartmentalise synthesis and evolution of knowledge into five groups namely empiricism, rationalism, idealism, constructivism and historical (Lawhead 23). Conventionally, there is a substantial conflict between empiricism and rationalism. In this essay, succeeding sections bequeath discuss in detail about fundamental concepts of both empiricism and rationalism.Prior to dissecting the ii knowledge generation models of empiricism and rationalism, it is appropriate to acknowledge the two concepts of priori and posteriori knowledge. Basically, the Latin term priori means before while posteriori means by and by. Therefore, priori knowledge refers to any type of knowledge synthesized without relation to observations or experience. Knowledge derived from logical inferences, for ensample 2 + 2 = 4, is priori in form. This means that any subsequen t observation or experience cannot alter the outcome of knowledge. On the contrary, posteriori knowledge is synthesized only after consideration to relevant observations or experiences. Nowadays, posteriori knowledge is popularly referred to as empirical knowledge (Lawhead 42). Proponents of posteriori knowledge assert that no knowledge can be genuine prior to consideration of underlying observation or experience. Therefore, priori knowledge is arrived at through reasoning, while posteriori knowledge is synthesized from facts generated from empirical activities.At this juncture, it becomes evident that rationalism conforms to principles of priori knowledge. On the contrary, empiricism has close synchronization with the principles of posteriori knowledge. Technically, rationalism involves development of knowledge through innate intelligence and deductive reasoning. Pythagoras, who features as the father of rationalism, asserts that every man has an natural ability to reason.