But these statements tell us nothing about dreams, mirages, or the square root of minus one. Similarly, the Ontological Argument for God s existence tells us nothing about God. And finally, in pure rationalism, it is difficult to avoid solipsism, which is the incorporation or merging of the world into the ego or self, wherein the world becomes nothing more than the projection of one s own consciousness. Without a divine universal mind in which all persons and objects participate, it is not possible for the individual thinker to escape his own mind. Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and David Hume are three of the main thinkers in this system of epistemology.
Empiricism elevates the scientific method of investigation in order to attain knowledge.
Repetitive observation, of course, increases certainty. The logic used in empiricism is called inductive. One scientifically collects information and draws inferences and conclusions. This knowledge is aposteriori , i.e., it comes after and through experience. One must be able to smell, taste, feel, hear, or see something in order to know it.