Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory

experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with
rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,
especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, over the notion of innate ideas or traditions.

Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It

is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against
observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation.

Philosophers associated with empiricism include Aristotle, Alhazen, Avicenna, Ibn Tufail, Robert
Grosseteste, William of Ockham, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle, John Locke, George
Berkeley, David Hume, Leopold von Ranke and John Stuart Mill.

The English term "empiric" derives from the Greek word , which is cognate with and translates
to the Latin experientia, from which we derive the word "experience" and the related "experiment". The
term was used of the Empiric school of ancient Greek medical practitioners, who rejected the doctrines
of the (Dogmatic school), preferring to rely on the observation of phenomena.

Philosophical empiricists hold no knowledge to be properly inferred or deduced unless it is derived from
one's sense-based experience. This view is commonly contrasted with rationalism, which asserts that
knowledge may be derived from reason independently of the senses.

British Empiricism: British empiricism, though it was not a term used at the time, derives from the 17th
century period of early modern philosophy and modern science. The term became useful in order to
describe differences perceived between two of its founders Francis Bacon, described as empiricist, and
Rene Descartes, who is described as a rationalist. Thomas Hobbes and Baruch Spinoza, in the next
generation, are often also described as an empiricist and a rationalist respectively. John Locke, George
Berkeley, and David Hume were the primary exponents of empiricism in the 18th century
Enlightenment, with Locke being the person who is normally known as the founder of empiricism as
such.

Associationism: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The psychological theory that association is the basic principle of all mental activity.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The psychological theory which regards the laws of association as the fundamental laws of
mental action and development.

WordNet 3.0
1. n. (psychology) a theory that association is the basic principle of mental activity.