Calderon 1

Sandra Calderon
Mr. Buescher
Philosophy, P 1
On-Demand Essay
Theory being defended: Empiricism
Epistemology is defined as the area of philosophy that deals with questions dealing with
knowledge and considers various theories of knowledge. Many philosophers disagreed with each
other when trying to define and understand the concept of knowledge. As a result, three theories
of knowledge were unearthed: Skepticism, Rationalism, and Empiricism. Skepticism argues that
we do not have knowledge and that it is impossible to have justified beliefs or that beliefs cannot
be justified. Rationalism is the claim that reason or the intellect is the primary source of our
fundamental knowledge about reality. Empiricism claims that sense experience is the sole
source of our knowledge about the world. Of these three theories, Empiricism is the most clear,
consistent, and comprehensive because there is physical proof of what it claims.
Empiricism is the clearest of the three theories of knowledge because if you think about
your early life, your childhood, you can easily remember things which you learned through
experience. Empiricists insist that when we start life, the original equipment of our intellect is a
blank tablet. Think about it, a newborn child is born without knowledge of what a doctor, a
mother, a table, or a car is. Over time, the child learns words and their understood meaning, how
to control his or her limbs, and he or she learns not to touch a hot stove. All through experience.
Now for a paradox. The rationalist Socrates said that we can have innate (inborn) ideas but not
be aware of it, hence gaining knowledge is more like remembering something one had forgotten
that it is acquiring new and unfamiliar information. Well, if it were that way, wouldnt an
experience be necessary in order to remember the information? This claim has a hole in it.

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Lastly, the skeptic Pyrrho is Elis argued that for experience to be a source of knowledge, our
sense data must agree with reality. But what is reality? The skeptics also argued that little can be
known because everything is constantly changing, and even went off to completely dismiss the
whole concept of knowledge; according to them, it does not exist. Neither Rationalism nor
Skepticism are very clear when giving their answer to whether or not knowledge exists in us and
why.
Empiricism is the most consistent theory of knowledge because its three anchor points do
not contradict and stay consistent, and it is a way of thinking which humans can usually and
easily relate to;. These three anchor points are: The only source of genuine knowledge is sense
experience, Reason is an unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge unless it is grounded in
the solid bedrock of sense experience, (lastly) There is no evidence of innate ideas within the
mind that are known apart from experience. Note how these points do not contradict each other,
and they stay true and consistent to the blank tablet theory of Empiricists. Unlike the Skeptics,
Empiricists bring a theory up and stick to it. Empiricism also comes with the smaller amount of
loopholes. It basically states that we are born with blank tablet minds, with no knowledge, and
as we begin our lives and notice our surroundings, we experience things and learned from these
interactions. When havent we met a child, or an adult, who has had at least one memory of an
experience from which they learned? Empiricism is the most consistent theory of knowledge
because it does not contradict and it makes sense to humans.
Empiricism is the most comprehensive theory of knowledge simply because, as
mentioned before, it is relatable to most humans and life itself proves this theory to be true. Both
John Locke and George Berkeley believed that it is through experience, and not reason, that we
have knowledge. This is true because what is reason composed of? When one reasons, for

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example, about not stealing, it is because of experiences in the past where weve dealt with or
learned about the consequences of stealing. Reasoning is based on some kind of experience, so
reasoning by itself is not a producer of knowledge. Second, Hume claims that all the information
in the world comes from experience. He states that everyone has perception, and impressions.
The two kinds of impressions are visual (or sense data) which includes colors, smells, taste,
textures, etc., and psychological experiences. One can have knowledge of what cigarette smoke
smells like from experiencing the odor of it. One can know what a broken heart feels like
because of the experience of having those hurt feelings. This has always applied to humans, from
the time when these philosophers were alive to today; and that is why Empiricism is the most
comprehensive theory of knowledge. Finally, Aristotle once said that humans are born wanting to
learn and know. We are forever asking questions, wondering why, and physically doing things
and experiencing things. People who have traveled, read, and spoken to many other people know
many things as a result of having so many experiences in their life. Empiricism is the most
comprehensive theory of knowledge because it directly relates to humans and their daily lives.
Empiricism is the most clear, consistent, and comprehensive theory of knowledge
because there is physical and even psychological proof that sense experience is the sole source of
our knowledge about the world. Empiricism is the clearest theory because it is straight-formed
and is mainly based around the idea that we are born with a blank intellect that is ready to be
filled in; it is not full of contradicting ideas or too many different ideas which go nowhere.
Empiricism is the most consistent because of its three anchor points, and finally, Empiricism is
the most comprehensive because it is the most relatable to humans. If there is real evidence to
which all humans can relate to and understand, then it is true.