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Behavior Theory and Philosophy pp 63–81Cite as

Empiricism

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Abstract

The word empiricist comes from the Greek root meaning “experience” and appears to date from the middle seventeenth century. The emphasis on experience in the acquisition of any kind of knowledge, scientific or otherwise, became a basic pillar of epistemology,that philosophical domain addressing such questions as what could people know, how could they know it, what do they know, and how do they know it. “Empirical” was thus reified into empiricism, traditionally the doctrine asserting that most, if not all, of what counts as knowledge results from experience. Although there were certainly antecedents, the development of empiricism into systematic philosophical positions by Locke, Berkeley, and Hume in the seventeenth and eighteenth century paralleled, indeed was spurred by, the development of modern science.

Experience is the Angled Road—Emily Dickinson

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0170, USA

    Jack Marr

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  1. Jack Marr
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, 26506-6040, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

    Kennon A. Lattal  & Philip N. Chase  & 

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Marr, J. (2003). Empiricism. In: Lattal, K.A., Chase, P.N. (eds) Behavior Theory and Philosophy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4590-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4590-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3405-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4590-0

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