empiricism noun4 •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. — 1893 •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. — 1885 •Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc. •(historical) Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles.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 formsempiricisms
