Question

Describe the philosophy of rationalism .What are the basic differences between empiricism and rationalism? Choose a philosopher from chapter 6 whose ideas you think are important to the birth of scientific psychology  

Answer 1

Describe the philosophy of rationalism

Rationalism can be defined as a practice or a fundamental phenomenon wherein we base or form our opinions, ideas, concepts and actions from actual reasoning and factual knowledge instead of simply basing it upon belief, faith or our own experiences. Rationalism includes acquiring or deriving knowledge in three important ways: Deduction (applying the right propositions to bring out conclusions), Innate ideas (internal ideas or reasoning ability which we are born with) and Reason (using logic).

What are the basic differences between empiricism and rationalism

Empiricism believes that knowledge is acquired through experiences and experimentations, whereas rationalism is of the belief that knowledge is acquired only through reason and logic.

According to Empiricism the paradigm of knowledge is Experimental science, and according to rationalism it is Mathematics.

Empiricism does not warrantee certainty as it is fully based on experiences and experiments which can vary and can be uncertain in its conclusions. Rationalism advocates certainty as its based on rational foundations instead of empirical.

Rationalism believes that mind comprises of innate ideas whereas Empiricism does not believe so and argues that the senses (sense perceptions) are the mode of acquiring knowledge and also there are no innate ideas as such.

Choose a philosopher from chapter 6 whose ideas you think are important to the birth of scientific psychology

Both Plato and Aristotle’s contributions as philosophers to the field of psychology is massive. While Plato contributed through his ideas of how nature is a contributing factor in a person’s overall psychological development, Aristotle argued for the importance of nurture in the role it plays in psychological development in humans.