For a long period of time, philosophers have fiercely debated the classification of philosophical epistemology into two categories: rationalism and empiricism. Empiricism is the idea that knowledge can only be gained by obtaining facts through observation or experimentation, while rationalism obtains knowledge through logical reasoning. Although rationalism and empiricism are very viable methods of thinking in philosophy on their own, the arguments of these philosophical schools become much stronger when used together. This is mainly due to the fact that, following empiricism, we acquire knowledge through observation that we will be able to interpret using rationalism. Using these two methods together would allow philosophical thinkers to approach many questions more holistically. This way of thinking is very reminiscent of the scientific method, and this method has proven itself time and time again throughout history. If the scientific method were not an effective way to solve scientific problems, scientists using it would have invented a new way to gather information. However, this method is still strong and a combination of empiricism and rationalism would prove equally effective. Furthermore, these two thinking methods complement each other quite well. For example, scientists often ponder the origins of the universe. Most of them are based on the Big Bang theory, which is commonly explained as a “violent event” caused by the expansion of a “single point in space” (Big Bang). However, no one knows what happened before the Big Bang occurred because there is no evidence to support anything that existed before. At this point it is necessary to adopt a rational approach to deduce the origin...... half of the article ......of the scientific method, the combination of these two philosophical schools has proven to be an effective method of thinking because it provides a holistic approach to the truth itself. Works Cited Thomas Aquinas. "Summa Theologica". Classics of philosophy. Ed. Louis P. Pojman and Lewis Vaughn. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. 443-53. Print."The Big Bang." NASA science. Network. 22 November 2011. .Descartes, Rene. "Meditations on First Philosophy". Classical library. 2001. Network. 22 November 2011. .Hume, David. “An investigation into human understanding.” Secular Web: Atheism, agnosticism, naturalism, skepticism, and secularism. Network. November 22. 2011. .