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RationalismVersus

Empricism

Done by:Samaneh SoltaniProfessor:Ali Rabi,Ph.D

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What is Rationalism?

Rationalism is a belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response,expounded by Rene Descartes.

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Rationalism is the belief in

A. Innate ideas B. Reason C. Deduction

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A.Innate ideas

It means to have ideas before we born.

Are we born with knowledge?The assumption is that we born as a

‘blank slot’ but Plato believe that the human soul exists

eternally,and exists in a world of form(or idea)before life.

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B.ReasonIs the main source of knowledge and 5 senses only give you opinion,not reason.e.g.Descartes’ wax argument.He states’’ we come to know them by the power of our own native intelligence,without any sensory experience.

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Wax has certain characteristic,it may burn and turn black,However,it

is still wax .He concludes that these

characteristic are not inherent to the wax itself

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C.Deduction

Prove something with certainty

rather than reason.e.g

existance of God(Descartes’)

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What is Emprecism?

Empricism is the theory that all knowledge is drived from sense-experience.Stimulated by the rise of exprimental sience,it developed in 17th and 18th centuries,expounded in particular by John Locke,George Berkeley.

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Empeicism is the belief in

A.Sense preceptionB.InductionC.No innate ideas

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A.Sense preception

Main source of knowledge1.simple:Based on preception like,color,size,etc,2.Complex:Ideas are formed when simple ideas are combined.

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QuestionWhich building is

nearer?

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John Locke believed that only with experience could one form simple ideas be

combined into complex ideas.

It is belief that few things,if any can

be proven conclusively

)Descatres(’

B.Induction

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We know of things by using our sense

preception,we know that the color of the chalk

board is green and that the color of the day we erase board is white.But

we can not without a doubt conclude that these

preceptions agree with the object themselves.

C.No innate ideas

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References: 1.Guy Long Worth,Rationalism and Empricism

uiversity of warwick

2.Plato’s theory of form and thought on innate ideas-Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy

3.New Evidence for innate ideas-blue brain group

4.Locke,J(1960)An Essay on Human understanding,ed.R.Woolhouse,London:Penguin books,1997.

5.Kenny,A,1986Rationalism,Empiricism and idealism,Oxford:Oxford university Press.

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