5 Rationalism and Empiricism Free Online FlashCards

What is a priori knowledge?

A priori knowledge is justified independently of sense experience.

What is a posteriori knowledge?

A posteriori knowledge depends on experience, such as observation or reliable testimony based on observation.

What do “a priori” and “a posteriori” classify?

They describe how a belief is justified, not whether someone happened to encounter the idea while learning it.

What is the central claim of rationalism?

Rationalism holds that at least some knowledge or concepts do not derive their justification or content entirely from sense experience.

What does intuition mean in rationalist accounts?

Intuition is a direct intellectual grasp of a truth, such as recognizing a simple mathematical relation.

What does Descartes establish by reflecting on doubt?

Descartes argues that doubting confirms a thinker exists: the act of thinking cannot occur without a thinker.

What is the central claim of empiricism?

Empiricism treats experience as the ultimate source of ideas and knowledge, while allowing reason to organize evidence and draw conclusions.

What two forms of experience do empiricists distinguish?

Sensation is perceiving the outside world; reflection is attending to the mind’s operations, such as remembering, comparing, or willing.

What does Locke argue about innate principles?

Locke rejects the idea that people are born with fully formed innate principles; he traces ideas to sensation and reflection.

What distinction does Hume draw between two kinds of truth?

Hume distinguishes relations among ideas, such as mathematical truths, from matters of fact, which depend on experience.

Why does Hume say past observations cannot prove future patterns?

Past observations do not deductively prove that future events will follow the same pattern; habit helps explain why we expect them to.

How does Kant combine sensory input and the mind?

Kant argues that knowledge of the experienced world requires sensory input and mental structures that organize it.