edge. Rationalism states that there are beliefs that are justified on thought alone. It is based on mathematics and stresses deductive reasoning over all other methods. Proofs are a popular way of communicating concepts and we see these proofs a lot in Descartes’ meditations. Everything must also have a sufficient reason or that a process must occur within some substance and cannot exist by itself. These beliefs can arise from intellectual intuition, the apprehension of self-evident truth, or from deductive reasoning. Extreme rationalism goes as far to express the belief that pure thinking and reasoning can discover the truths of physical science and even history. I consider myself more on the empiricist side of the spectrum. I believe that experience is the primary source of our ideas. I really like and understand Locke’s argument about the newborn child. If the child is raised in a world of black and white, it will never experience other colors. The child will have no innate ideas of these colors because the child doesn’t even know the colors exist. I don’t see how one could use reason and intellect to gain knowledge if there are things they haven’t experienced and therefore don’t know about. I do agree with the rationalist view slightly in one area. Once I have experienced things and have been awakened to new ideas, I have to organize them; otherwise they would make no sense. This is where the rationalist view enters. In order to transform these primitive ideas in to knowledge I have to make connections between my experiences and ideas. This requires intellectual thought and reasoning, the basis for the rationalist view.Experience? Reasoning? How do we develop ideas and become the people we are. Perhaps it is a combination of the two methods. The origin of ideas is a very complex issue. Two great philosophers have opposing views on how an individual from the time of birth deve...
