`I know God exists, because I have an idea of perfection Discuss whether knowledge can be gained without using sense experience

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`‘I know God exists, because I have an idea of perfection’ Discuss whether knowledge can be gained without using sense experience

The argument for God’s existence often prompts debate, and provides contrasting responses. The idea of perfection is often described as a state of ‘completeness and flawlessness’ Rene Descartes’s ‘trademark’ argument for the existence of God is likened to the existence of a clothing brand designer. The ‘Trademark’ analogy claims that by searching one’s interior deeply they will find the concept of God implanted within them. This is likened to finding the name of a designer on an item of clothing. The implications of this are that if this is the case, the argument for the existence of innate knowledge is relatively strong. The presence of knowledge of God’s existence prior to experience would suggest that innate knowledge is achievable. The existence of innate knowledge is a view held by rationalists, whilst Empiricists are strongly against the existence of this particular kind of knowledge. The acquisition of knowledge is reliant on a claim about the world, which can only be true.

The view that, “we know only what our experience teaches us” is one held by many Philosophers in the empiricist school of thought. Empiricists believe that all knowledge is derived from and checked against sense experience. What we know or knowledge can be defined as a ‘justified true belief”. Experience can be split into two categories –raw sensory perceptions, and emotional experiences. Overall I do not agree with this view largely because very few empiricists would also accept this view as I believe there is at least some knowledge which does not come from sense experience, although the value it holds may be very small. That is not to say there is not a favourable argument that at least the majority of what we do know does in fact come from sense experience. The issue here is that it is difficult to envisage, how concepts, such as truth and pain can be reduced to simple ideas.

Firstly, the possibility of knowledge being gained prior to experience relies heavily on the ability to reason. Rationalists, including Rene Descartes and Plato argued for the existence of innate knowledge and dismissed the view of empiricists that knowledge could only be gained via sense experience. The theory of rationalists is dependent on possessing the ability to possess innate ideas. The argument from rationalists is that the content of these ideas cannot be gained from experience. Ultimately, the claim from rationalists is that we may possess a form of rational intuition, which enables us to grasp certain truths on an intellectual level. This facility would operate independently of our five senses, and in a way provide us with almost some kind of ‘sixth sense’. The plausibility of this claim is relatively strong, as it does appear possible, that we are equipped with a priori knowledge to enable us to make sense of the external world. Nevertheless, Locke’s response would probably challenge this, as his bold claim, was that if you cannot trace something back to sense data, it is essentially meaningless. In this case, Locke would claim that, the presence of this ‘rational intuition’ cannot be traced back to an original sense impression, and must therefore be deemed meaningless.

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Initially, empiricist John Locke labelled the mind as a ‘blank slate’, claiming that all knowledge must be derived from experience. Inevitably, if Locke’s assumption is correct, it is highly unlikely that we possess innate knowledge. Locke dismissed the rationalists view of ‘innate knowledge’ and subsequently went on to claim that knowledge can only come from our senses, reflecting our senses and combining simple ideas to produce a complex idea. Locke’s claim appears well constructed. However, the emphasis placed on our senses may well be misguided.  Descartes’ three waves of doubt highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the reliability of our senses. ...

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