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Definition of "empiricism" []

  • The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge. (noun)
  • Employment of empirical methods, as in science. (noun)
  • An empirical conclusion. (noun)
  • The practice of medicine that disregards scientific theory and relies solely on practical experience. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "empiricism" in a sentence
  • "In philosophy, the term empiricism is used to describe a number of distinct philosophical attitudes, practices, and propositions."
  • "Libertarians argue that there are limits to reason — your empiricism is welcome here!"
  • "One was a great rationalist, an apostle of individual liberty, an enemy of dogma and a believer in empiricism as the source of all knowledge; the other was a Mexican nun who lived her entire life in the closed, authoritarian society that was colonial empire of New Spain."