Editing Epistemology (section)

=== Empiricism and rationalism ===
{{main|Empiricism|Rationalism}}
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|footer=[[John Locke]] and [[David Hume]] shaped the philosophy of empiricism.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolenski|2004|pp=17–18, 22–23}}</ref>
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The debate between empiricism and rationalism centers on the origins of human knowledge. Empiricism emphasizes that [[sense experience]] is the primary source of all knowledge. Some empiricists illustrate this view by describing the mind as a [[blank slate]] that only develops ideas about the external world through the sense data received from the sensory organs. According to them, the mind can attain various additional insights by comparing impressions, combining them, generalizing to form more abstract ideas, and deducing new conclusions from them. Empiricists say that all these mental operations depend on sensory material and do not function on their own.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Lacey|2005|p=242}} | {{harvnb|Markie|Folescu|2023|loc=Lead section, § 1.2 Empiricism}} }}</ref>

Even though rationalists usually accept sense experience as one source of knowledge,{{efn|Some forms of extreme rationalism, found in [[ancient Greek philosophy]], see reason as the sole source of knowledge.<ref>{{harvnb|Lacey|2005a|p=783}}</ref>}} they argue that certain forms of knowledge are directly accessed through [[reason]] without sense experience,<ref name="auto2">{{multiref | {{harvnb|Lacey|2005a|p=783}} | {{harvnb|Markie|Folescu|2023|loc=Lead section, § 1. Introduction}} }}</ref> like knowledge of mathematical and logical truths.<ref>{{harvnb|Tieszen|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2fgQ_fuCcKAC&pg=PA175 175]}}</ref> Some forms of rationalism state that the mind possesses [[Innatism|inborn ideas]], accessible without sensory assistance. Others assert that there is an additional cognitive faculty, sometimes called [[rational intuition]], through which people acquire nonempirical knowledge.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Lacey|2005a|p=783}} | {{harvnb|Markie|Folescu|2023|loc=Lead section, § 1. Introduction}} | {{harvnb|Hales|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sINRmT4rZ5wC&pg=PA29 29]}} }}</ref> Some rationalists limit their discussion to the origin of concepts, saying that the mind relies on inborn [[Theory of categories|categories]] to understand the world and organize experience.<ref name="auto2"/>