How does empiricism differ from rationalism in explaining the source of knowledge?

The fundamental difference between empiricism and rationalism lies in their identification of the primary source of human knowledge.

Empiricism asserts that all concepts and significant, factual propositions originate in and are justifiable only through experience, typically understood as sensory perception. Empiricists generally view the mind as a tabula rasa that records impressions, arguing that even complex ideas are derived from combining simpler concepts rooted in sensory data. While many empiricists acknowledge the existence of a priori knowledge, they often consider it trivial or empty of factual content.123

Rationalism, by contrast, maintains that reason and the intellect are the fundamental sources of knowledge. Rationalists argue that human beings possess a priori knowledge—truths that are significant and independent of sensory experience—which can be grasped directly through intellectual intuition or deductive reasoning. They contend that reality possesses an inherently logical structure that the mind is capable of apprehending, suggesting that certain concepts may even be innate to the structure of the mind itself.1423