Empiricism

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/empiricism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the epistemological stance?Knowledge and justification are primarily derived from sensory experience and empirical evidence
2. What is the scientific application?Empiricism is foundational to the scientific method, emphasizing experimental verification and observation
3. Why do scientists use experiments instead of just guessing?Scientists use experiments because they can collect real, observable data that shows whether a theory is true or not, which helps keep science accurate and up-to-date.
4. Who were some famous people who talked about empiricism?Ancient Greek thinker Aristotle, and later thinkers like John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume all talked about how we learn from experience.

Epistemology: The philosophical study of knowledge, its nature, scope, and justification.
Tabula Rasa: Latin for 'blank slate,' the theory that the human mind is empty at birth and gains knowledge through experience.
Empirical Evidence: Information obtained through direct observation, measurement, and experimentation, verifiable by others.
Falsification: The principle that a scientific theory must be capable of being proven false through empirical testing.