Question

1a) Summarize the ideas of Kant and Hegel regarding Rationalism and Empiricism. How do they relate to each other?

b. Describe how Rationalism (Thesis) and Empiricism (Antithesis) can be brought together into a synthesis? Is this even possible? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Rationalism posits that the path to knowledge is through logical analysis and thinking, which is independent (separate) from sensory experience. Empiricism states that the path to knowledge is through observation and evidence, which primarily stems from one’s sensory experiences.

Kant neither agreed completely with rationalism nor empiricism. He criticized Locke’s empiricist view, that mind was a blank slate (tabula rasa), and that the interactions with the world populate one’s mind. Kant states that certain beliefs that individuals hold about objects, must stem from (be brought by) mind to experience.   Rationalist Descartes was of the view that he could understand the objects outside him, on the basis of his awareness of his own existence. Kant disagreed with Descartes’ view and said that one cannot have an inferential view of external objects. He said that Cogito argument (Descartes) makes a presumption that external objects (in time and space) are outside of one’s existence. Kant stated that both rationalism and empiricism have a unique standing and that both must work in synthesis for the quest of truth.

Hegel neither agreed with the rationalist, that knowledge stems from external objects nor with the empiricist view, that knowledge stems from one’s mind. Hegel talked of the human spirit, one comes to know the reality (Absolute) through self-reflection. Hegel attributes importance to nature, that it is a prerequisite for human consciousness. Nature gives the arena of objective, without which one’s subjective view of reality, through human spirit cannot exist.

Hegel held an idealist view of mind, and knowledge; while Kant’s view came to be known as transcendental idealism. Kant thought that time and space are features of how we look at (perceive) objects, and that time and space do not exist independently of our intuition, and they posit the relation among objects. This is a bit similar to Hegel’s view that one’s human spirit cannot exist without (independent of) framework provided by Nature.

b) A synthesis of rationalism and empiricism is possible. The rationalist view and empiricist view contradict one another (thesis and antithesis). There are several psychologists who posit a synthesis (integration) of rationalism and empiricism. Synthesis of the two views proposes that one cannot propose valid rationalist theories without connecting them to empiricist methods such as observation, and nor can piles of observational data be meaningful without a proper theoretical outline or framework.