Empiricism Verses Rationalism: Matters Arising in Medical Practice

Abstract

The two schools, Rationalism and Empiricism have been at loggerheads over what constitutes the ultimate source of knowledge. This is the focal point of epistemology, the branch of philosophy devoted to studying the nature, sources and limits of knowledge. However, in medical practice, these concern ways of thinking in diagnosis and therapeutics. The Empirical and the Rationalist philosophies are two logical and consistent thought structures which are in all respects entirely antagonistic to one another, one favoring the senses and the other favoring the mind. This paper is therefore concerned with the existence of a conflict in therapeutics between what are called the Empirical and the Rationalist philosophies.