Empiricism: The Foundation of Knowledge from Experience
Empiricism is a core epistemological view in philosophy that asserts true knowledge and justification primarily derive from sensory experience and empirical evidence, contrasting sharply with rationalism's reliance on pure reason and innatism's belief in innate ideas. Historically, this perspective embraced the "blank slate" (tabula rasa) concept, proposing that the human mind is devoid of inherent knowledge at birth and forms its thoughts entirely through later experience.
Crucially, empiricism underpins the modern scientific method, insisting that all hypotheses and theories must be rigorously tested against observations and experiments of the natural world, rather than solely on a priori reasoning. This approach posits that knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, always subject to continued revision and potential falsification. Early forms of empiricist thought can be traced back to ancient Indian philosophies (e.g., Vaisheshika school, 600-200 BCE) and the Greek medical empiric school (330 BCE), with influential Enlightenment figures like John Locke later championing its principles.