philosophy
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Two of the most famous philosophers of epistemology are David Hume and Rene Descartes. Hume, being an empiricist, holds the view that knowledge begins with sensory information. Descartes is a rationalist and believes that the exercise of reason, rather than experience, provides the primary basis for knowledge. Though each seeks some kind of certainty of truth, what they eventually find are two different things. Hume sets certain limits and finds imperfections with human understanding. He finds certainty in knowing what one can not know. Descartes begins by doubting everything at once.
In Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, he is not in search of absolute knowledge, but instead highly reliable knowledge. According to Hume, the fundamental elements of knowledge are impressions and ideas. Impressions are strong and vivid perceptions...