The belief or practice that knowledge should come mainly from sensory experience, observation, and experiment. It often contrasts with relying mostly on pure reason or theory.
From 'empiric' (a doctor who relies on experience) plus the noun suffix '-ism.' 'Empiric' comes from Greek 'empeirikos' (experienced), from 'empeiria' (experience). Philosophers later used 'empiricism' to name a whole approach to knowledge.
Empiricism is a philosophical way of saying, 'Show me, don’t just tell me.' It helped shape modern science by insisting that ideas must survive contact with the real world. The word turns everyday 'experience' into a serious theory of how humans should think.
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