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Experimentation for Knowledge
Today we are talking about the metaphysics of empiricism. I tend to range rather far afield in classes, so I will try to remain more on topic. Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that holds that knowledge (either exclusively or primarily) comes from sensory experience, and that discovery is accomplished through experimentation. Thus the term…
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Branch of Epistemology
The principles guiding pursuit of empirical knowledge are themselves not truly empirical. There has to be a subjective handle put on all this objective knowledge. They have to guide the behavior of researchers to preserve the veridical integrity (truthfulness). You can have a big pile of facts and data, and still wonder what it means. And…
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Process Leading to Empiricism
Shall we begin the critique? I had a hard time keeping away from it. We see in the history of empiricism the same human drama that played out in previous religious conflicts, the notion that a greater ideal or noble truth is being neglected or even profaned by the attitude or disposition of those who…
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Progress
In order to compete with religion for the favor of the powers that be, empiricism had to promise a vision of the future more attractive than what religion offered. So we have “progress.” Or just plain out tell the natives they were wrong. Indeed, it did win the lion’s share of influence over time. Are…
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Delete Belief?
The world of the subjective hasn’t gone away. If empiricism was the genuine truth and full basis of knowledge, then why hasn’t the subjective gone by the wayside? There are those who try for that. What are they like? According to the behaviorists, your feelings and behavior are just mechanisms of your brain, and there…
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Humanity Hopping
There is a new study about babies and morality and knowing good from not good. Ah indeed. Yes, babies have been shown to have values even in the preverbal stage, but these have no basis in knowledge according to the empirical standard. So do dogs, and monkeys. They tested the behavior of monkeys to unequal…
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Cultivate the Subjective
The subjective is not a character defect, no more than a fishes inability to breath air is a character defect. So since we can’t rid ourselves of the subjective, why not cultivate it? A great many scientific discoveries came from exactly this, an experimenter getting an idea, and many others say “Oh no, that’s nonsense.…
Category: Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that holds that knowledge (either exclusively or primarily) comes from sensory experience, and that discovery is accomplished through experimentation. Assisted sensory experience is acceptable in empiricism and relies on there being no observer effect.
In order to compete with religion for the favor of the powers that be, empiricism had to promise a vision of the future more attractive than what religion offered. So we have “progress.”
“Experience seems to most of us to lead to conclusions, but empiricism has sworn never to draw them.” George Santayana (1863-1952)
“Even as empiricism is winning the mind, transcendentalism continues to win the heart.” Edward O. Wilson