Philosophical empiricists hold no knowledge to be properly inferred or deduced unless it is derived from one's sense-based experience. This view is commonly contrasted with rationalism, which states that knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses. For example, John Locke held that some knowledge (e.g. knowledge of God's existence) could be arrived at through intuition and reasoning alone. Similarly Robert Boyle, a prominent advocate of the experimental method, held that we have innate ideas. The main continental rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz) were also advocates of the empirical "scientific method".

Aristotle's explanation of how this was possible was not strictly empiricist in a modern sense, but rather based on his theory of potentiality and actuality, and experience of sense perceptions still requires the help of the active nous. These notions contrasted with Platonic notions of the human mind as an entity that pre-existed somewhere in the heavens, before being sent down to join a body on Earth (see Plato's Phaedo and Apology, as well as others). Aristotle was considered to give a more important position to sense perception than Plato, and commentators in the Middle Ages summarized one of his positions as "nihil in intellectu nisi prius fuerit in sensu" (Latin for "nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses").

What are the answers to this following set of questions:

1. Where does their knowledge come from?
2. What is this generally contrasted with?
3. what is that?
4. what is Aristotle's explanation?
5. based on what?
6. was Plato's position more important?
7. how did commentators summarize this?
8. what is that in Latin?
9. what wasn't emipiricist?
10. who had knowledge of God's existence?

Numbered answers:
1. one's sense-based experience
2. rationalism
3. knowledge may be derived from reason independent of senses
4. experience of sense perceptions still requires the help of the active nous
5. his theory of potentiality and actuality
6. no
7. nothing in the intellect without first being in the senses
8. nihil in intellectu nisi prius fuerit in sensu
9. Aristotle's explanation
10. unknown