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empiricism

noun

Etymology

From empiric + -ism.

Definitions

  1. A doctrine which holds that the only or, at least, the most reliable source of human…

    A doctrine which holds that the only or, at least, the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, especially perception by means of the physical senses. (Often contrasted with rationalism.)

    • Empiricism teaches us that we are unceasingly and intimately in contact with a full, living, breathing Reality, that experience is a constant communion with the real.
    • He agrees with Kant that Hume's empiricism is refuted de facto by the example of mathematics, whose judgments are synthetic a priori.
    • Empiricism is the doctrine that human knowledge is grounded on the kind of experience, mostly achieved through the five senses, whose objects are particular events occurring at particular times and in particular places.

  2. A pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and…

    A pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation.

    • Our whole life in some of its highest and most important aspects is simply empiricism. Empiricism is only another word for experience.
    • I have found no better expression than "religious" for confidence in the rational nature of reality.... Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.
    • Painting needs no explanation or apology. This most religious of art forms belies the pathetic empiricisms of contemporary discussions.

  3. Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys,…

    Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience,…

      Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles.

      • Near-synonyms: folk medicine; quackery; charlatanry
      • Even at the height of its popularity, medical empiricism was the creature of a most unforgiving free market economy. Successful practitioners seduced crowds as well as public officials.

The neighborhood

Derived

abstracted empiricism, antiempiricism, metempiricism, neoempiricism, postempiricism, radical empiricism

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at empiricism. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01empiricism02experimentation03experiment04efficacy05ideal06existing07existence08philosophy

A definitional loop anchored at empiricism. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at empiricism

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA