The Origin of Ideas

Rationalism vs. Empiricism

There are many different ideas behind Empiricism and Rationalism. There isn’t quite a positive place where these ideas came about. One could think of Rationalism as ideas that are innate, which simply means they are built in the mind in order for there to be experience. Or Empiricism, which means no ideas are innate, for all ideas come from experience.  I would agree with the view of Empiricists, You get ideas from the experiences you have in life.

According to my grandmother “who feels it knows”. This simple means you can’t get a sense of what something is like until you’ve experienced it. Hearing from an individual is the total opposite of actually being in the situation you. When we were younger and attended preschool, compared to now being young adults are two different experiences. As a young child there weren’t any problems or worries because parents were there to take that burden. Now college students it’s an eye opener, the transition from having mommy and daddy handle everything to you know having to worry about something as simple as what’s for dinner can cause a rift. If we aren’t giving the tools needed to know the answer for that question between the years from preschool to college, we might find yourself asking “what if?”

Descartes example, of wax is similar to us growing up. There are many stages that’s required to meal wax as there are to being ready for adulthood. As you grow older your still the same “Sally” but just more experienced and less naïve. Along with changes comes a better understanding of the world around us.

A)     Empiricism has more explanatory depth because we have evidence. From the time the first humans settled to know there are artifacts that indeed shows how and what it was like in the past. Fossils play an important role in distinguishing between what was in existence.

B)      There is more explanatory breadth in Rationalism than there is in Empiricism. One can get a better understanding based on the formulation of opinions in the mind. The best example to explain this theory would definitely be a person starting their own business, an entrepreneur. In the works of starting a business there isn’t a plan that shows how successful it will be or whether it’ll make it past the first year, it’s a gamble, hoping for the best. Empiricism mind set gives us the ability to experience firsthand what it’ll be like. Then in the future there will incite on whether starting that business was the best choice.

C)      There’s more simplicity in Empiricism than there is in Rationalism. Rationalism has less because they only believe what they’ve been taught, There isn’t a set proof of the actually event of recognition because it was experienced. If you experienced you can learn from it, have different solutions and gain a different view on the situation. With this being said, there is a sense of complexity with Rationalism, the person is continuing guessing and trying to figure “what if”

D)     Due to the fact that Empiricism and Rationalism can be proven in numerous ways, they are both considered conservatism. There’s a sense of consistency and common sense, for example we know why a pencil doesn’t just float in midair, and we learned that gravity impacted this trial.

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

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

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