Lecture on Empiricism and Rationalism by Dr. Syed Kazim Shah

1. Lecture on Empiricism and Rationalism
Lecture by: Dr. Syed Kazim Shah
Associate Professor in English
Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Email: kazim.shah@gcuf.edu.pk
Prepared by: Amna Arshad

2. Empiricism:
 Empirical belief is a belief that we can find through the uses of our five
senses. It means we can judge through our five senses (smell, touch,
seeing, taste and earing) and this is called empiricism.
 Descartes came up with counter argument that sometimes our all senses
can misguide us. For example: sometimes our vision, our taste in illness,
even voices like some voices that are not there can misguide us. This was
the problems with empiricism

3. Problem with Empirical Belief
 Local Doubts:
According to De carts, local doubts are about particular
sense experience or some other occurrence at a particular pointing time.
These are related to human beings like hearing knock at the door even if
nobody is there or feeling change in the taste of food. These doubts can be
checked by asking someone to check the taste and see at the door.

4.  Global Doubts:
Bernard Russell explains Descartes concept of global doubts.
He gives ‘Five Minutes Hypothesis’. Hypothesis means not real and it is
based on induction which is primarily consisted on probabilities and
possibilities.
For Example: GOD has created world five minutes ago. Whatever you see
is created five minutes ago and he fits in such a way it appears thousands
years ago, he inserted the series of memories in humans (childhood
memories). These types of skepticisms are global doubt.
These doubts questions the nature of Existence of god, creation of human and
everything related to the whole universe. Global Doubts

5. Radical Skepticism
 Radical skepticism are based on global doubts.
 Descartes was a religious person and presented an argument against ‘Five
minutes hypothesis’ to investigate the nature of reality. He said if five
minutes is possible then it is something done by evil.
 He gives an ‘idea of evil genius’.
 Descartes says
“everything he believes, every sense experience, every thought they could
all have been put in our minds by the evil genius who created an illusionary
world so seem less we would have no ways to detect the illusions”.

6. Aha Moment:
Though Descartes was a staunch Catholic, he comes to a conclusion by
saying that a person can doubt every empirical thing even he doubt the world and doubt
on their senses. But human beings can never doubt that they are doubting. He says this in
his book as a ‘Aha Moment’. If you are doubting it means you are thinking. If you are
thinking it means your mind exists and you are ‘being’. This is called as ‘Foundational
Belief’. He wrote a significant sentence on the opposite side of the title ‘Meditations on
first philosophy’ by Rene Descartes
“Cogito Ergo Sum”
“I think therefore I am”

7.  Bernard Russell counter argued that in empiricism there can all be
illusions because they are not scientifically proven.
 John Locke and Berkeley are classical philosophers; they strongly criticizes
the earlier views of empiricism by presenting it is mostly about
immaterial world.

8. Rationalism Vs. Empiricism
 Rationalist: Belief that reason is the most reliable source of knowledge.
For example: ‘Existence of Allah”.
 Empiricist: belief that sense experience is the most reliable source of
knowledge.

9. Concept of ‘IDEAS’ in the light of
Rationalism
 Ideas are proposition that can only be known through pure reasons.
 Argument against ‘ideas’ is ‘Induction’: It is scientific method that tell us
ways about the material world.
 Plato was rationalist and Aristotle was empiricist.

10. Tabula Rasa
 This concept is given by John Locke. The term ‘Tabula Rasa’ means blank
slate. We born knowing nothing. We are born with a blank slate and all are
knowledge comes to us through sense data.
As Plato bought the concept of essentialism against empiricism that we are
born with some coded data and it is in our essence. How do we know
about right and wrong? It is taught and pre-coded in genetics by Allah or
nature. We named it as essentialism.

11. Primary and Secondary Quality of
material
 Primary qualities: that physical objects themselves have (internal quality):
solidarity, height width, mass. There is no difference in primary qualities.
There can be agreement on primary quality.
 Secondary quality: It includes color, taste, texture, and smell. There
cannot be agreement on secondary qualities. They are primarily based on
our ‘perceptions.’

12. Nature of reality by Berkeley
 John Berkeley said secondary quality are not objectively real; they can only
be subjectively perceived. He said there is just no thing as matter, they
cannot be instead there is only perceptions. Without secondary quality,
there will not be primary quality. Imagine an apple without color, taste .
This will call nothing.
 he bring counter quality. Perception is strong than reality. Primary quality
themselves are subjected to perceptions ( Perception on secondary quality). If
there is no secondary qualities, there will not be primary
 Linguistics is totally based on primary qualities while literature is based on
secondary qualities.
 That’s why linguistics bring CDA based on perceptions. CDA brings arguments for
both

13. Argument for GOD
 Berkeley wrote a book by ‘Esse Est Percepy’ (to be is to be perceived).
 Knowledge is based on perception.
 If perception is removed then our identity will be lost.
 There is always someone keeps an eye on us this is an argument for GOD.

14. Proposition and Assertion
 Assertion is a linguistic act either spoken or written that has a truth value.
 What is Truth value? The state of being either true or false or indeterminate
(based on future).
 All declarative sentences have truth value that assert something about past,
present or future. they can be either true or false values.
 Proposition are underlining meaning of assertion is proposition. It is content
of an assertion.
 Propositional attitude: how much you believe on Propositions and belief or
disbelief.
 Propositional attitude of truth
 Belief can be based on knowledge or ignorance.

15. Knowledge assertion belief = Knowledge
Knowledge is a Justified true belief.
 What is justification?
It is evidence or other support for your belief. For Example: one type of
evidence is testimony, second is first person observation that is
empiricism.

16. Edmund GETTIER
 He asserts that was you can have a false belief but you cannot have false
Knowledge.
 He gives an analogy of Knowledge that Knowledge is not accidental.

17. THANK YOU 