Empiricism

Empiricism is the theory of philosophy that finds all knowledge comes from experience—information gathered through hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch, or reasoned in the mind based on experience. The term comes from the ancient Greek word empeiria, meaning "experience." Empiricism is based on the idea that all ideas are a posteriori, Latin for "from the latter." This differs from the rationalist idea that concepts may be a priori, "from the former," meaning they do not rely on experience.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, Francis Bacon, John Locke, and David Hume are among the most well-known philosophers who endorsed empiricism. Bacon, an advocate of the scientific method, has been called the father of empiricism, while Locke's writing on the topic inspired many others, such as Voltaire, to further develop empiricism. Locke's theories about human knowledge and thought have continued to influence philosophers into the twenty-first century.

Background

Many ancient philosophers believed in rationalism, or the idea that knowledge is based on reason and may be gained without experiences. They believed that humans knew many abstract ideas that were not based on what could be sensed. Information could be attributed to innate knowledge—information humans know as just part of their nature—innate concepts, and intuition paired with deductive reasoning. Plato, for example, is regarded as the most significant rationalist philosopher, although his work is based on the writings of other, earlier philosophers. Among the most ancient ideas about knowledge is the idea that some geometry, mathematics, and logic are not clearly based on experience. A perfect triangle, for example, is not found in nature, so philosophers questioned the idea that humans had to experience geometry to develop and understand it.

Successors challenged the ancient Greek ideas. Stoicism is the idea that humans are born with a clean slate, or an empty mind, and gain information about the world and eventually knowledge through their senses. Epicureans believed that human ideas are memories of previous experiences gained through the senses. During the Middle Ages, philosophers such as St. Augustine primarily endorsed empiricism but accepted the belief in some innate knowledge. By the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas had completely rejected rationalism. He believed the body and the soul both were involved in experiencing, and humans developed their ideas from information gathered through the senses. Humans could use analogy, based on information gained through experience, to understand abstract ideas and things that could not be seen.

Francis Bacon was primarily a scientist and advocated the scientific method. He did not reject the idea of a priori knowledge, but he said that the only knowledge of value is that which is empirically based. He and others of his time stressed the value of observation. Bacon believed in scientific research and the gathering of facts. He developed the idea of induction, which is a method of reasoning that applies what one knows to develop larger concepts. Induction relies on reasoning from a part to a whole, a particular to a general, or an individual to the universal. What is true of an ice cube, for example, should be true of an iceberg. Thomas Hobbes, on the other hand, believed all true knowledge is a priori. Hobbes believed the senses provided information and inspired deductive thinking that leads to knowledge.

John Locke described empiricism thoroughly in his 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding. He attributed all knowledge to sensation or reflection, or the inner knowledge that one's mind is at work. Locke argued against innate beliefs, and he said infants are born knowing nothing. He thoroughly examined the construction of complex ideas based on small bits of empirical information. Locke proved to be highly influential, inspiring other philosophers to take up the mantle of empiricism, but he also inspired many to try to prove him wrong. Bishop George Berkeley, for example, tried to refute many of Locke's claims. He feared that Locke's ideas supported atheism. Berkeley believed in a theory of spiritual substance, and he argued that objects exist due to the perception of God that is not dependent upon awareness or existence of humans.

David Hume built upon Locke's description of empiricism and the scientific method to try to make sense of how the mind functions to gain knowledge. He believed that only experience could provide knowledge.

French writer Voltaire translated Locke's ideas into French. He tried to develop a French philosophy based on empiricism and shared these English ideas in Letters Concerning the English Nation. His efforts gave rise to sensationalism, a form of empiricism that rejects all but sense perception as a source of knowledge.

Empiricist philosophies of science that arose during the nineteenth century were precursors to the acceptance and support of the twentieth-century movement known as logical empiricism. Logical empiricism developed in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, before taking hold in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s largely due to the upheaval of Europe caused by World War II (1939–45). The major participants were scientists and mathematicians who were members of groups known as the Vienna Circle and the Berlin Society for Empirical Philosophy (later renamed the Berlin Society for Scientific Philosophy), and their associates, as well as groups in the United States and other countries outside of Europe. Members of the movement had few shared ideas about empiricism, but they generally supported scientific methodology.

Overview

An essential component to most empiricist thought is the tabula rasa. This is the idea that the mind is a clean slate at birth, and experiences make their marks on it, shaping the individual. The concept was developed by eleventh-century Persian philosopher Avicenna. He believed that a person used education and empirical knowledge of the world to generate universal concepts. An individual might observe, then wonder, "if this, then?" Continuing this line of thought leads to greater ideas and knowledge.

Locke also introduced basic questions about knowledge. He believed that one must ask two primary questions about all types of knowledge: What does one know? How does one gain this knowledge? His books are among the most influential works in modern philosophy. His writings had an effect on the ideas and works of many authors and scholars, although his ideas were largely rejected during the nineteenth century before regaining stature during the twentieth century. His An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which includes his belief in the mind as a tabula rasa, changed the direction of many scholars' thoughts on knowledge, and his ideas continue to influence thinkers in the twenty-first century.

Locke described knowledge of the external world as knowledge of real existence; it exists and is not imagined. He believed that humans can know three kinds of things exist: awareness of self, awareness of God, and awareness of things distinct from one's mind, such as things one can see and touch.

Locke called knowledge of the external world sensitive knowledge, also known as sensory knowledge. It is known because it is sensed. Locke distinguished between sensitive knowledge and two other degrees of knowledge. Intuitive knowledge is that which is known immediately—for example, black is not white. Demonstrative knowledge is proven through a deductive argument, such as the steps taken to find the angles of a triangle. According to Locke, the what humans know is existence of the real world, and the how people know is through sensation, when their senses provide information to their minds. He believed that one only knows for certain that something exists while one is experiencing it—for example, looking at an item—but that one suspects the object continues to exist when one is not seeing it, and in fact, that individuals are virtually unable to deny the existence of objects even when they are not experiencing them.

When one experiences the world, one can only understand what one senses. According to Locke, the underlying nature of the world is beyond human senses. For example, one can see and touch water, but if one's only understanding of water is in the scientific sense, H₂O, one cannot know water exists, because this information is not accessible to one's senses. Further, Locke believed that what others know or think does not affect an individual through that person's senses. The minds of others may affect their bodies and actions, however, which may affect another individual through one's senses. Locke also believed that one can believe others' minds exist because other individuals behave in ways similar to oneself. This idea is similar to the notion that people continue to believe objects exist even when they are not sensing them.

One of Locke's ideas of empiricism that is shared by many philosophers is that one only gains full understanding through experience. The flavor of a pineapple, he explained, can only really be understood by tasting it. One can explain to others that the flavor is similar to other tastes, and describe it in detail, but the truth cannot be explained, only experienced. While empiricism holds up for an argument such as this, it is difficult to support regarding abstract ideas. One can experience a flavor, but other ideas, such as love, may not be the same for different people, or for one person in varied circumstances.

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