Contrast the Rationalist and Empirical approaches to epistemology and describe Kant's synthesis of both Rationalism and Empiricism in his theory of knowledge. Use primary source quotations from Plato, Descartes, Lock, and especially Kant as well as secondary sources about their theories of how we acquire knowledge.

If the Rationalism says that the knowledge is acquired through logical and rational thought, the Empiricism is the opposite, understanding the knowledge as an apprentice of the environment. In other words, trough your feelings and what you approach by the external elements you achieve the knowledge. On the other hand, Kant tried to mix these two ideas, creating the Critical philosophy.

Explanation:

For Kant, the process of knowledge occurs through the interaction between the subject and the objective world. In order to arrive at the result, the subject has in its structure the sensitive content, that is, the condition that is responsible for capturing the objective data, being sent to the intellect, to be classified, articulated and thought. However, the subject is the key piece in his interaction with the object, that is, the subject must start with the will to learn.