Answer to Question #188413 in Philosophy for Sareen

Question

Q1.Differentiate between Rationalism and Empiricism in theory of knowledge with examples.

(Discuss at least two essential characteristics of each view)  

Q2.Discuss Materialism as the concept of Reality in metaphysics with example.

Answer 1

Q1 Rationalism is the viewpoint that knowledge mostly comes from intellectual reasoning, and empiricism is the viewpoint that knowledge mostly comes from using your senses to observe the world.

An example of rationalism is not believing in the supernatural.

An example of empiricism according to John Locke is that some knowledge (e.g. knowledge of God's existence) could be arrived at through intuition and reasoning alone.

Q2 Materialism, also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.

An example of materialism is explaining love in terms of material things.