[Home]History of Empirical knowledge

HomePage | Recent Changes | Preferences

Revision 8 . . December 10, 2001 12:37 pm by Larry Sanger
Revision 7 . . December 9, 2001 11:25 pm by The Anome [/Talk should have a captial T]
Revision 6 . . December 9, 2001 10:59 pm by Little guru [opz i 4got hyperlinking with braquets]
Revision 5 . . December 9, 2001 10:59 pm by Little guru [added /talk]
Revision 4 . . December 9, 2001 10:20 pm by Magnus Manske [Actually some text here; Little guru, I left a link to physics in, but please, focus on actual writing]
Revision 3 . . December 9, 2001 8:41 pm by Little guru [hmm]
Revision 2 . . December 9, 2001 8:39 pm by Little guru [Opz]
Revision 1 . . December 9, 2001 8:38 pm by Little guru [trying to redirect to physics]
  

Difference (from prior major revision) (no other diffs)

Changed: 1c1,5
Empirical knowledge refers to knowledge obtained by experience, and to knowledge that seems obvious. For example, "all things fall down" would be empirical knowledge about gravity. It is empirical because it has always been that way, so there is no resaon to believe it will change. This example also shows the danger of empirical knowledge. In orbit, for example, things do not "fall down", as there is no "down". While empirical knowledge can help guide the way for "real" knowledge (as it did, for example, in physics), the scientific method is currently the way to come as close to "secure" knowledge as possible.
Empirical knowledge refers to knowledge obtained by experience; generally, empirical knowledge is the same as [a posteriori knowledge]? ("a posteriori" means roughly "from experience") and is contrasted with [a priori knowledge]?, or knowledge that is gained through the apprehension of [innate idea]?s, "intuition?," "[pure reason]?," or other alleged non-experiential sources.

For example, "all things fall down" would be an empirical proposition about gravity that we many of us believe we know; therefore we would regard it as an example of empirical knowledge. It is "empirical" because we have generally observed that things fall down, so there is no reason to believe this will change. This example also shows the difficulty of formulating knowledge claims. Outside of the Earth's gravitational field--in orbit, for example--things do not "fall down", as there is no "down".

The vast bulk of the empirical knowledge that ordinary people possess is gained via a mixture of direct experience and the testimony? of others about what they have experienced--iterated in an interesting way that is studied in the field of social epistemology as well as other fields. More complicated and organized methods of gaining empirical knowledge are the methods of science--see scientific method--which results in perhaps the best examples of rigorously codified, scientific empirical knowledge, namely, physics.

HomePage | Recent Changes | Preferences
Search: