ABSTRACT
The two great classical theories of knowledge – rationalism and empiricism – bring with them not only different conceptions of knowledge, but also different understandings of the acquisition of knowledge. Like any characterization in terms of ‘isms’, what the author have said is a caricature of any actual philosopher, but the tendencies are undoubtedly there. The theory of the acquisition of knowledge in question reflects traditional empiricist epistemology which is based on the idea that all knowledge is built up from certain atomic elements derived directly from experience. An objection of a different kind to the author association of learning with knowledge would be that there are forms of learning in which the end of the learning is not in fact knowledge. Theories of learning inspired by rationalist theories of knowledge have not had much of a press until lately.
