Rationalism and empiricism

In short: Rationalism and empiricism are two opposing philosophical positions on how knowledge arises. Rationalists emphasise reason, empiricists sensory experience, as the source of knowledge.

In more detail: This debate decisively shaped European philosophy especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In detail

• Rationalism: Descartes held that certain knowledge is gained through logical thinking, not sensory experience.
• Innate ideas: Rationalists often believed in innate concepts present in the mind independent of experience.
• Empiricism: Locke and Hume argued that all knowledge ultimately comes from sensory experience.
• Tabula rasa: Locke described the human mind at birth as a blank slate, filled only through experience.
• Hume’s scepticism: Hume even doubted the reliability of causal relationships, which rest only on repeated experience.
• Kant’s synthesis: Immanuel Kant later tried to combine both positions by linking experience with structures of reason.
• Modern relevance: This debate still echoes today in philosophy of science and epistemology (erkenntnistheorie-wissen-und-glauben, logik-grundlagen-schluesse).