Empiricism

Introduction
Various meanings of empiricism
- Broader senses
- Stricter senses
  - Fundamental distinctions
  - Degrees of empiricism
    - Absolute empiricism
    - Substantive empiricism
    - Partial empiricism
History of empiricism
- Ancient philosophy
- Medieval philosophy
- Modern philosophy
- Contemporary philosophy
Criticism and evaluation
- Ancient and medieval philosophy
- Modern philosophy
- Contemporary philosophy

References & Edit History Related Topics

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empiricism summary

Related Questions

How did Bertrand Russell’s empiricism change during his career?
How did David Hume explain people’s belief in cause and effect?
How did Francis Bacon’s ideas help shape the scientific method?
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How did George Berkeley’s philosophy lead to phenomenalism?
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How did Kant explain the mind’s role in organizing sense impressions?
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How did Voltaire help introduce John Locke’s empiricism to France?
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How does empiricism differ from rationalism in explaining the source of knowledge?
How does externalism explain how sensory experience can justify beliefs?
How does introspection count as experience for some empiricists?
What are secondary qualities in John Locke’s philosophy?
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Which kinds of sensory experience are important to empiricist philosophy?
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Why did Francis Bacon emphasize organized observation and scientific cooperation?
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Why did William James argue that relations between things are part of experience?
Why did later philosophers reject John Stuart Mill’s explanation of mathematical certainty?
Why did logical positivists consider mathematics and logic different from the physical sciences?
Why did medieval philosophers use the phrase “nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses”?
Why do empiricists disagree about whether people directly perceive physical objects?
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How is postmodernism related to relativism?
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External Websites

University of Warwick - Rationalism and Empiricism
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Rationalism, Empiricism, and Evidence-Based Medicine: A Call for a New Galenic Synthesis
DigitalCommons at University of Nebraska - Lincoln - The Use of Empiricism, Rationalism and Positivism in Library and Information Science Research (PDF)
VIVA's Pressbooks - Psychological Science: Key Themes and Applications - Empiricism
Pima Open Digital Press - Introduction to Philosophy - Rationalists and Empiricists
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Rationalism vs. Empiricism
University of Miami - College of Arts and Sciences - Department of Philosophy - Empiricism
Colorado Community College System Pressbooks - PPSC PHI 1011: The Philosopher's Quest - Empiricism
International Journal of Research in Education Humanities and Commerce - Locke, Berkeley and Hume: A Brief Survey of Empiricism (PDF)
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Locke: Epistemology
Pressbooks at MSL - Introduction to Historical Studies ï¿½ Spring 2023 - Empiricism ï¿½ Freeman
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Is Empiricism Innate? Preference for Nurture Over Nature in Peopleï¿½s Beliefs About the Origins of Human Knowledge
University of Notre Dame - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews - Peirce's Empiricism: Its Roots and Its Originality
Humanities LibreTexts - Empiricism leads to Logical Behaviorism

John Locke An oil-on-canvas portrait of John Locke by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1697; in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Empiricism

philosophy

Written by

Richard Fumerton

Professor of Philosophy, University of Iowa. Author of Metaepistemology and Skepticism and others.

Richard FumertonAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Nov. 1, 2026 •History

Empiricism, in philosophy, the view that all concepts originate in experience, that all concepts are about or applicable to things that can be experienced, or that all rationally acceptable beliefs or propositions are justifiable or knowable only through experience. This broad definition accords with the derivation of the term empiricism from the ancient Greek word empeiria, “experience.” Concepts are said to be “a posteriori” (Latin: “from the latter”) if they can be applied only on...

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