Dictionary

empiricism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Ancient Greek ἐν (en) Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-) Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂ Proto-Indo-European *périh₂ Proto-Hellenic *péřřa Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra) Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek ἔμπειρος (émpeiros) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek ἐμπειρία (empeiría) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós) Ancient Greek ἐμπειρῐκός (empeirĭkós)bor. Latin empīricuslbor. English empiric Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English empiricism From empiric + -ism.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) 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 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. 1958 Apr, Ernest A. Moody, “Empiricism and Metaphysics in Medieval Philosophy”, in The Philosophical Review, volume 67, number 2, page 151:
   • He agrees with Kant that Hume's empiricism is refuted de facto by the example of mathematics, whose judgments are synthetic a priori. 1950 Dec, Virgil Hinshaw, Jr., “Review of Socratic Method and Critical Philosophy, Selected Essays by Leonard Nelson”, in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, volume 11, number 2, page 285:
   • 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. 1893 Sep, James Seth, “The Truth of Empiricism.”, in The Philosophical Review, volume 2, number 5, page 552:
2. (countable, uncountable) A pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation.
   • Painting needs no explanation or apology. This most religious of art forms belies the pathetic empiricisms of contemporary discussions. 2001 Sep, Mark Zimmermann, “The Stillness of Painting: Robert Kingston and His Contemporaries”, in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, volume 23, number 3, page 71:
   • Our whole life in some of its highest and most important aspects is simply empiricism. Empiricism is only another word for experience. 1885, Gerard F. Cobb, "Musical Psychics," Proceedings of the Musical Association, 11th Session, p. 119
   • 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. 1951, Albert Einstein, letter to Maurice Solovine (Jan. 1), in Letters to Solovine
3. (countable, uncountable) Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc.
4. (countable, historical, uncountable) Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles.
   • Empiricism is not peculiar to Denmark; and I know of no way of rooting it out, though it be a remnant of exploded witchcraft, till the acquiring a general knowledge of the component parts of the human frame, become a part of public education. 1796, Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Oxford, published 2009, page 105:
   • 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. 1990, Alison Klairmont Lingo, "Review of Professional and Popular Medicine in France, 1770-1830 by Matthew Ramsey," Journal of Social History, vol. 23, no. 3 (Spring), p. 607
   • Near-synonyms: folk medicine; quackery; charlatanry

Forms

Deriveds

postempiricism · metempiricism · abstracted empiricism · antiempiricism · radical empiricism · neoempiricism

Relateds

empirical · rationalism · empiricist

Synonyms

folk medicine · quackery · charlatanry

Translations (35)

de Empirismus (pursuit of knowledge purely through experience) · el εμπειρισμός (philosophical theory) · kk эмпиризм (philosophical theory) · is raunhyggja (philosophical theory) · fr empirisme (philosophical theory) · bg емпиризъм (philosophical theory) · ru эмпиризм (philosophical theory) · pl empiria (pursuit of knowledge purely through experience) · es empirismo (philosophical theory) · ja 経験論 (philosophical theory) · is reynsluhyggja (philosophical theory) · ro empirism (philosophical theory) · hi इंद्रियानुभववाद (philosophical theory) · pt empirismo (philosophical theory) · el εμπειριοκρατία (philosophical theory) · pl empiryzm (philosophical theory) · de Empirismus (philosophical theory) · pl aposterioryzm (philosophical theory) · cs empirismus (philosophical theory) · vi chủ nghĩa kinh nghiệm (philosophical theory) · fi empirismi (philosophical theory) · ta பட்டறிவியம் (philosophical theory) · ca empirisme (philosophical theory) · uk емпіризм (philosophical theory) · ko 경험론 (philosophical theory) · grc ἐμπειρῐκή (practice of medicine founded on experience only) · nl empirisme (philosophical theory) · ja 経験主義 (philosophical theory) · cmn 經驗主義 /经验主义 (philosophical theory) · de Empirie (pursuit of knowledge purely through experience) · la empīricē (practice of medicine founded on experience only) · cmn 經驗論 /经验论 (philosophical theory) · hi अनुभववाद (philosophical theory) · th ประสบการณ์นิยม (philosophical theory) · sv empirism (philosophical theory)