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Empiricism is the school of Epistemology (in philosophy or psychology) that virtually all knowledge is the result of our experiences. (See John Locke's Tabula rasa or "blank slate" theory.) Radical Empiricism holds that our knowledge is essentially nothing more than the sum of our experiences. Empiricism is closely allied with (philosophical) materialism and positivism and opposed to intuitionism or continental rationalism, though it is perhaps compatible with modern rationalism. Empiricism is generally regarded as being at the heart of the modern scientific method, that our theories should be based on our observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith; that is, empirical researchEmpirical research is any activity that uses direct or indirect observation as its test of reality. If atheoretical, it is a form of inductive reasoning. It may also be conducted according to hypothetico-deductive procedures, such as those developed from, inductive reasoning and deductive logic.
Names associated with empiricism include AristotleAristotle ( Greek Αριστοτλης Aristotelēs) ( 384 BCE March 7, 322 BCE) was a Greek scientist and philosopher. Along with Plato, he is often considered to be one of the two most influential philo, Francis BaconFor others individuals named Francis Bacon see: Francis Bacon (disambiguation Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans ( January 22, 1561 April 9, 1626), more commonly known as Sir Francis Bacon achieved fame as an English philosopher, statesman, and essayis, John Locke, George BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley (bark-lee) ( March 12, 1685 January 14, 1753), also known as Bishop Berkeley was an influential Irish philosopher whose primary philosophical achievement is the advancement of what has come to be called subjective idealism, summed up in hi, and David HumeDavid Hume ( April 26, 1711 August 25, 1776), Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid among others, one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume is sometimes regarded as the third and most radical o.
1 Empiricism in history
Within historiographyHistoriography is writing about rather than of history. Historiography is meta-analysis of descriptions of the past. The analysis usually focuses on the narrative, interpretations, worldview, use of evidence, or method of presentation of other historians., empiricism refers to empiricist historiography , a school of documentary interpretation and historical teleology derived from the works of Ranke.
2 See also
Epistemology
Philosophy of science
