Empiricism

From Geography

Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience and internal mental experience- such as emotions and self-reflection.

The empiricist draws his rules of practice not from theory but from close observation and experiment, emphasizing inductive rather than deductive processes of thought. For empiricists, facts precede theories and it is possible for one to be an impartial, objective observer of facts.

Empiricists tend to emphasize the tentative and probabilistic nature of knowledge.

References

Ward, Teddy (n.d.), "Empiricism",[1]

Published by --CasparEngelen 15:45, 17 December 2011 (CET) en Natasja van Lieshout