Perception as the Source and Basis of Knowledge Essay

Perception as the Source and Basis of Knowledge It is human nature to desire to acquire knowledge, but how we acquire this knowledge is a constant debate between philosophers. For years philosophers have written about different sources of knowledge. We can divide these ideas into two theories, rationalism and empiricism. A question that divides the two dogmas is; Is perception the source of knowledge? Empiricists say yes whole-heartedly while Rationalists believe that we accomplish knowledge through reason. Both empiricism and rationalism can be convincing, but there are some points on both sides that would need rethinking. Rationalism is purely based on reason and the foundational concepts†¦show more content†¦This is simply the name for a dirty river; we cannot assume that it is red. There are countless other examples of names like this, the Barenaked ladies are not Barenaked ladies for example. This knowledge we call a priori, is not necessarily true by definition. We would need experience to learn that the red river is not red and that a band named the Barenaked Ladies is actually a group of men who are often clothed. Rationalists also use mathematics to support their claims. Common examples of this are; parallel lines never meet and the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 °. This is true for some people. Some people can figure these things out with nothing but reason, but I would believe that there are some others that cannot. Rationalists believe that we are born with detailed concepts of God, causality, and mathematics. There is no way to prove this but it is an interesting theor y. Empiricism bases its entire doctrin on the belief that we must refer to experience as a source of knowledge. We have come to know this type of knowledge as a posteriori: knowledge that comes after or is dependent upon experience. To contrast the a priori statement black cats are black, you could say as an a posteriori statement cats are black. 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