Rationalism vs. Empiricism: Similarities & Differences

What is Rationalism?

Rationalism functions on three key principles that work to find the truth:

Empiricism, on the other hand, works with key principles to use skepticism in its school of thought that rejects the principles of rationalism.

Induction is a significant difference between rationalism and empiricism. Induction promotes the belief that the only thing we can be sure of is the experiences that we have. This is called solipsism. Everything that we experience is a projection of the mind, meaning that we can only truly know that we exist and everything else is just the projection of the mind. Interestingly, a rationalist belief that is similar to solipsism is Rene Descartes' statement 'I think; therefore, I am.'

Keep in mind, where rationalism holds that experience isn't necessary to acquire truth - that it can be discovered through reason - empiricists believe that the nature of reality, or truth, can only become knowledge if it is experienced. This knowledge is attained through the primary or secondary qualities of an object.

Primary Qualities - these are qualities that belong to an object and refer to its physical properties, such as shape or size or color. A banana has a curved shape specific to a banana and is yellow.

Secondary Qualities - these qualities refer to the degree that is perceived by the individual, such as its taste or degree of color. The secondary qualities of a banana are defined by the individual, such as its taste. Some people don't think that bananas are delicious. The degree of yellow for the banana can be perceived on different levels as well, depending on the individual.

Rationalism and empiricism share some similarities, specifically the use of skepticism, which is a doubt that the other ideas are true, to invoke a pattern of thought that will lead to knowledge or the truth of the nature of reality. This skepticism, however, is what makes rationalism and empiricism fundamentally opposite.

Rationalism has three key principles: Deduction , which is the application of concrete principles to draw a conclusion; innate ideas , which is the concept that we're born with fundamental truths or experiences left over from another life that we're born with; and reason, which uses logic to determine a conclusion.

Empiricism has its own principles, which include a rejection of innate ideas, the use of sense experience, which involves ideas that are either simple or complex and make use of the five senses, and induction, which is the belief that very little can be proven conclusively, especially without experience. From this, empiricists promote the notion of solipsism, which is the belief that everything we experience is a projection of the mind and can only be true to the individual. In other words, only the self can be known to be real. Remember Descartes' quote about this?

Empiricists believe that experience and thus knowledge can only be obtained through absorbing an object's primary qualities, which are qualities that belong to an object and refer to its physical properties, and secondary qualities, which involve the degree that is perceived by the individual, such as its taste or degree of color.