PHIL 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Noam Chomsky, Aspirin, Australian Council Of Trade Unions
Document Summary
Descartes is often referred to as a rationalist : significant role for a priori knowledge. Descartes thought the idea of god was innate. As opposed to a posteriori knowledge/empirical knowledge: so answer something you have to use your senses. A priori; you can answer a question without your senses: emphasis on necessary truths. Rationalists believed in necessary truths: if jack is a bachelor, then he is unmarried - if you try to deny it in any way, you are engaged in a conflict. Mathematics are said to be necessary truths . Rationalists thought that the necessary truths could be more known; innate, without senses. Empiricists were inclined to deny the above. You can figure things out by just thinking about it though to learn the definition in the past, you had to hear or see it; the answer to that question isn"t in- nate.