Descartes' rationalist and Dubois' empiricist concepts

Descartes & WEB Du Bois

Comparative Analysis of Rationalism and Empiricism as Philosophical Movements: Examples from Rene Descartes and W.E.B. Du Bois

Rationalism and empiricism are both philosophical movements that dominated the modern society, as it developed from 19th to 20th centuries. With each philosophical movement, modern society has come to develop humanity at a more advanced stage. These philosophies have contributed to the capitalist economic society that influenced modernism, wherein ideas from both rationalism and empiricism allowed human society to make sense of their experience as it moved further to become a more developed society.

Rene Descartes and W.E.B. Du Bois are philosophers who have developed the ideas of rationalism and empiricism as they perceived and experienced it during their time, respectively. Descartes promoted the philosophy of rationalism as the belief that ideas can de created and developed from reason alone -- attributing these ideas solely on the human ability to think for himself, be able to transcend reality and experience, and generate ideas from pure reason. Du Bois, meanwhile, promoted the philosophy of empiricism in the context of the black American slavery and prejudice experience, wherein his version of "truths" came from his experiences as a member of a marginalized sector in American society.

This paper discusses the salient differences between Descartes' and Du Bois' philosophies: rationalism and empiricism. In the comparative analysis discussed, it is posited that Descartes' rationalist philosophy contrasts from Du Bois' empiricist belief because the latter tried to make sense of his (and his Negro brothers') existence through his experiences as a marginalized individual in American society. It can be said that Du Bois' philosophy puts importance on the role that society and the social environment played in the creation of the "Negro experience that Du Bois talked about in "Souls of the Black Folk." Descartes' philosophy, conversely, assumes as an individualist stance in discussing his philosophy in "Meditations," a result of the flourishing belief in individualism in Western societies during the 19th century.

In "Meditations," Descartes explicated on the question of human existence based on pure reason. While empirical observation would posit that human existence is determined through experience or the experiential dimension, the physical manifestation of the individual himself, Descartes argued that an individual can argue his existence based on reason alone. The following passage in "Meditation II" demonstrated his use of rationalist philosophy to argue his point (i.e., the existence of man can be determined through reason alone, without the presence of a physical self as evidence of one's existence):

I am I, then, at least not something? But I before denied that I possessed senses or a body; I hesitate, however, for what follows from that? Am I so dependent on the body and the senses that without these I cannot exist? But I had the persuasion that there was absolutely nothing in the world, that there was no sky and no earth, neither minds nor bodies; was I not, therefore, at the same time, persuaded that I did not exist? Far from it; I assuredly existed, since I was persuaded. But there is I know not what being, who is possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. Doubtless, then, I exist, since I am deceived; and, let him deceive me as he may, he can never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I shall be conscious that I am something. So that it must, in fine, be maintained, all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition (pronunciatum) I am, I exist, is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind.

The passage questions the strength of empiricism or the experiential dimension of knowledge in its ability to develop human knowledge based on experience from reality alone. For Descartes, the individual is capable of thinking beyond the physical and real, and this can be done by arguing based on pure reason. His version of "truths" about human existence and other universal truths about life can be generated from human reason alone, in the same manner in which he proved his existence as a result of his belief that he is "persuaded" that he exists. That is, even though experience and reality does not provide proof of his existence, the fact that Descartes believed that he existed is proof enough that he, indeed, exists in the world he lives in.

Descartes' questioning of reality and experience profoundly helped the manner by which human knowledge is created and developed. Rationalism as a philosophy puts premium on the human ability to think and reason, and through these attributes, be able to create ideas that make sense of one's existence and experiences in this world. For the rationalist such as Descartes, knowledge need not be established as "truths" based on physical manifestations or experiences; it is enough that the individual believes this 'truth' to be so, as long as the arguments and line of thinking presented are consistent and valid.

Du Bois, meanwhile, promoted the philosophy of empiricism because it is through this philosophy that he and his Negro community were able to make sense of their reality as a discriminated and prejudiced sector in American society. While Descartes' philosophy puts premium on the human ability to think and reason for himself, and ultimately, come up and develop universal truths about life and knowledge, Du Bois puts primary importance on collective experience as the 'key' to understand the Negros' realities and experiences of oppression from the dominantly white American society.

In "Souls," Du Bois argued how Negro slavery and oppression is just a "phase" through which the individual must go through before undergoing the process of "Emancipation," or the achievement of Freedom from slavery and bondage from the 'white man.' Through experience, and synonymously equating the Negro experience from other transitions in society that occurred historically (e.g., the Holocaust and Ku-Klux Klan wars), Du Bois posited that like the Israelites, the Chosen People of God, the American Negro would also be given its "promise" by God: the promise of Freedom from the bondage of slavery and Emancipation in American society.