Rationalism vs. Irrationalism
Rationalism vs. Irrationalism
Jane Evans was spending a week at the Crown Point Ward girls camp. She and her friends were laughing and enjoying the crisp night air. They giggled and talked of crushes on boys and gossiped all night about the notorious girls at school. But the fun stopped when a rat bit one of the girls. Screaming, squirming and frightened, they worried and stayed awake for the remainder of the night. Unable to sleep, they decided to go indoors, to avoid another possiable attack. A rationalist would argue that this is a ridiculous reaction to a rat bite, however as a person with an irrational perspective, I plead the contrary and throughtout this essay, will demonstrate why. Through a rationalistic perspecive we observe the mind as active, the emotions passive, and the notion that no material thing can cause an nonmaterial idea; however from the viewpoint of irrationality I will prove that: 1) Emotion is in fact not passive and 2) Intelligence can be created materially.
Before going into detail on irrationalism I wish to explore the rationalistic perspective. The rationalist tends to believe in the existence of truths that could not be discovered through the senses alone, the world cannot be ascertained simply by experiencing the content of our minds. Advocates of some varieties of rationalism argued that, starting with basic principles, like the realm of geometry, one could deductively derive the rest of all possible knowledge. (Markie 1) The philosophers who held this view most clearly were Spinoza and Leibniz, whose attempts to understand the epistemological and metaphysical problems raised by Descartes led to the development of rationalism. Both Spinoza and Leibniz asserted that, ideally, all knowledge (including scientific knowledge) could be gained through the use of reason alone, though they both observed that this was not possible in practice, except in specific areas such as mathematics. Which is
Jane Evans was spending a week at the Crown Point Ward girls camp. She and her friends were laughing and enjoying the crisp night air. They giggled and talked of crushes on boys and gossiped all night about the notorious girls at school. But the fun stopped when a rat bit one of the girls. Screaming, squirming and frightened, they worried and stayed awake for the remainder of the night. Unable to sleep, they decided to go indoors, to avoid another possiable attack. A rationalist would argue that this is a ridiculous reaction to a rat bite, however as a person with an irrational perspective, I plead the contrary and throughtout this essay, will demonstrate why. Through a rationalistic perspecive we observe the mind as active, the emotions passive, and the notion that no material thing can cause an nonmaterial idea; however from the viewpoint of irrationality I will prove that: 1) Emotion is in fact not passive and 2) Intelligence can be created materially.
Before going into detail on irrationalism I wish to explore the rationalistic perspective. The rationalist tends to believe in the existence of truths that could not be discovered through the senses alone, the world cannot be ascertained simply by experiencing the content of our minds. Advocates of some varieties of rationalism argued that, starting with basic principles, like the realm of geometry, one could deductively derive the rest of all possible knowledge. (Markie 1) The philosophers who held this view most clearly were Spinoza and Leibniz, whose attempts to understand the epistemological and metaphysical problems raised by Descartes led to the development of rationalism. Both Spinoza and Leibniz asserted that, ideally, all knowledge (including scientific knowledge) could be gained through the use of reason alone, though they both observed that this was not possible in practice, except in specific areas such as mathematics. Which is
Cited: 1) Markie, Peter. Rationalism vs. Empiricism. 13 Aug. 2004. 12 Aug. 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism 2) “Artificial intelligence.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. 12 Aug. 2006 . 3) “Artificial.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2006. 12 Aug. 2006. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/artificial 4) Hergenhahn, B. R. An Introduction to the History to Psychology Belmont, CA: Transcendental Printing, 2005.