Epistemology
This course has brought to the light various aspects of life especially those that are related to knowledge. It has been highlighted that the knowledge is the kind of knowledge which gives unity and system to the body of the sciences, and the kind which results from a critical examination of the grounds of our convictions, prejudices and beliefs. In other words, philosophy brings in rich experiences to an individual and reveals many aspects of life. Epistemology is a part of philosophy and refers to the process of investigation into the nature as well as the basis of that knowledge. Studying epistemology has increased the focus on ways of acquiring knowledge along with the way people can distinguish the truth and false. It has also become evident that there is a clear distinction between rationalism and empiricism. That is to examine if knowledge can be learned as priori or posteriori. This paper will provide a clear discussion of what has been learned throughout the course by examining what epistemology is, distinguishing rationalist and empiricist approaches, providing problems in both approaches, the way different scholars can respond and the reasons for such questions in peoples minds.
Generally, empiricism can be defined as acquiring knowledge through ones experience while rationalism is gaining knowledge by application of reason. Looking at empiricism, people can only have the knowledge of things after they have experienced certain events. On the other hand, rationalism approach indicates that there is the possibility to acquire knowledge about things before gaining experience. In other words, the two approaches tend to exhaust major possibilities, hence proving that all people fall in either rationalism or empiricism way of knowledge. Therefore, it is vital to look deep into epistemology by considering the two schools of thought. According to words of philosophy, philosophical examination is vital in any concepts of knowledge. It has been stated that any thinking that concerns the truth of a philosophical belief is philosophical thinking. It may take the form of accepting a belief as a truth and investigating its logical connections with other beliefs… A good illustration is in the real world of both atheists and theists. In that case, atheists are either exclusive or primary empiricists since they concentrate on truth that is supported by evidence that can be examined and studied. On the other hand, theists rely on rationalism and assume that the truth can be achieved by revelations, faith and other forms of beliefs. That can be described as the reason for consistency of atheists by placing primacy on the matter and claim materialism of the universe whilst the theists concentrate on mind existence. Theists argue that the mind of God is spiritual as well as supernatural. In other words, epistemology assists in understanding diverse approaches to knowledge such as rationalism and empiricism.
From the course, it has become clear that rationalism has drawback of uniformity. In other words, some rationalists can argue that certain facts on reality can be determined by pure reasoning and thoughts. A good example provided by category of rationalist is acquiring knowledge in such fields as mathematics, morality or geometry. On another note, they may argue that other truths need experience. Nevertheless, other rationalists go ahead to state that all truths on realities should be determined by reason due to sensory organs that are incapacitated to experience external reality. Empiricists do not suffer the problem of non-uniformity since they all hold that acquiring knowledge should follow experience of events. Experience has been explained to be sensed through the common senses or thought by the brain. Therefore, empiricists hold that there is no innate knowledge. According to all empiricists, innate knowledge is inefficacious and will never be applicable in peoples lives. In other words, there is a clear distinction between the two approaches of acquiring knowledge referring to the concept of uniformity of all members involved. In that case, empiricists stand as the strong approach.
The two approaches suffer from va