Antiempiric

/ˌæntiɛmˈpɪrɪk/ adjective

Definition

Opposed to or rejecting empiricism, the philosophy that all knowledge comes from experience and observation.

Etymology

From anti- + empiric (from Latin empiricus, from Greek empeiria, experience). This philosophical term developed in 17th-century discussions about how we know things.

Kelly Says

Rationalist philosophers like Descartes were somewhat antiempiric—they believed humans had innate ideas and reasoning alone could discover truth, opposing the purely experience-based learning that empiricists championed.

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