Arguments Against Empiricism

The town of Salem is hanging people left and right. People are blaming the innocent, and the people have to trust the word of a bunch of teenage girls to save the town from witchcraft. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Miller uses Abigail’s struggle for power to show that in times of great fear people look to the people with the answers even if they aren’t right. In Abigail’s struggle for power she wants to do what she wants and not get punished for it. Abigail wants to get rid of people she doesn’t like or those that she sees as a threat to her plan for power. Abigail also wants to be more powerful than the other girls. With Abigail gaining power she is going to be testing the limits of how many people she can wrongly accuse of witchcraft

Between the two schools of epistemology, rationalism and empiricism, I am inclined towards the philosophies of rationalism. I am persuaded towards philosophical approaches which are superior at attaining truth. Empiricism relies on observation using the five senses in reasoning to achieve truth. However, in Plato’s Thaetetus, Socrates gives strong arguments for the limitations of human perception. The Canadian legal system, also, recognizes flaws in human observation, which increases my skepticism of empiricism. Conversely, rationalism relies solely on the use of logic and deduction in reasoning. Both, Plato and Socrates stressed the value of rationalism through the ability to know and express combinations of elements through mathematics. Large

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many different lessons to be learned. The primary theme conveyed in To Kill a Mockingbird is courage. Lee wanted the reader to know that it is important to always be courageous and to stand up for what you believe in not matter what anyone else thinks. I believe Atticus was the courageous character in this book. He himself was a courageous man and he taught others how to be courageous as well. The overall message of the book is to be courageous and not to let anyone or anything stand in the way. Lee conveys the message by using character development and conflict.

Consider the following example of how much information is acquired prior to a decision. Suppose upon entering a room one is unexpectedly confronted with the sight of a fully grown tiger. A fairly reliable prediction is that person would endeavor to leave the area in great dispatch or otherwise seek safety. All by itself that prediction is uninteresting. More interesting is the explanation for the behavior. Would the person's decision to run be based upon any detailed information held about that particular or would the decision be based upon the person's information about how he has seen other tigers behave, what his parents have told him about tigers or tiger folklore? Most likely the individual's decision would be based upon the latter. He simply pre-judges or stereotypes the tiger. The fact that it is a tiger is deemed sufficient information for action.

Though there are many good and bad aspects of the scientific method, there is an underlying fault with all of them. The scientific method in psychology relies on empiricism. Empiricism is a view that all knowledge is derived from experience. The scientific method can ultimately be split into two attitudes. The first is the dogmatic attitude. Dogmatism is the wish to impose regularities on the basis that repetition of regularly occurring events mean that a belief in

Empirical way of knowing simply refers to the science of nursing. Empirical knowledge, on the other hand, describes theories and laws that are systematically organized to describe, explain, and predict a phenomenon (Turton, 1997). Nursing is a professional area that requires a vast amount of knowledge in order to deliver services effectively. Empirics, therefore, define factual knowledge of science that helps to underline nursing as a science and must thus be practiced in an organized way.

Death. A strong topic, frequently but solemnly discussed. However, when I read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, I was immediately captivated by the new angle brought to my attention regarding death. While the topic of death is usually associated with either sympathy or horror, Poe succeeded in portraying a feeling caught between the two; and at the same time bringing forth new feelings I would never thought to consider regarding death. These feelings reflect a sorrow so deep into a psychological madness, a feeling that the pain death brings has ruined one forever. After analyzing this poem I came to the conclusion that Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” demonstrates that the sorrow the death of a loved one brings will stay with you forever. Poe communicated this theme through abstract language , tone, and allusion.

Empiricism and positivism are two major characteristics of received view. McEwen and Wills (2007) state that “empiricism is founded on the belief that what is experienced is what exists” (p. 515). In other words, one’s experiences determine what we know. This knowledge from our experiences, must be confirmed by scientific support. McEwen and Wills (2007) go on to say that “these experiences be verified through scientific methodology” (p.8).

This author ascribes to the empiricism paradigm. This paradigm is similar to empirical knowing in that it is based on the premise that what is known can be verified through the senses, or

The next two, rationalism and empiricism are the combination of knowledge via science. Knowledge via rationalism involves logical reasoning. It is the combination of stating precise ideas (often in the form of syllogism), applying logical rules, and making logical conclusions based on the ideas. The problem is when the syllogism’s content or either premises is false. The knowledge is not based on the content, but on the logical manner it is presented. Knowledge via empiricism involves gaining knowledge through objective observation and the experiences of one’s senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching (collection of facts), and views knowledge, as “I’ll believe when I see it”.

There are two main schools of thought, or methods, in regards to the subject of epistemology: rationalism and empiricism. These two, very different, schools of thought attempt to answer the philosophical question of how knowledge is acquired. While rationalists believe that this process occurs solely in our minds, empiricists argue that it is, instead, through sensory experience. After reading and understanding each argument it is clear that empiricism is the most relative explanatory position in epistemology.

An objective theory that predicts future events can only be possible when dealing with the five senses. Once there is a pattern of the same things reoccurring over and over again, a universal law starts to develop. This means that no matter what, some things will always be true, while other things will always be false. One’s beliefs, whatever they may be, have no manner on the facts of the world. Some facts of the world include the sun rising, women being able to carry a baby, and even evolution. Another example is the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, which describes that when interacting with people, one may need certain information about the person in order to reduce their uncertainty. In the event that one does gain more information about the other person or

Isaac Newton’s astounding achievements in the field of science contributed to the birth of empiricism. This was the belief that knowledge acquired through sense experience is the only true meaningful knowledge. This idea began in Britain and spread all the way to Scotland and even Ireland. Philosophers such as David Hume developed radical ideas supporting these beliefs.

Epistemological Foundationalism essentially claims that some empirical beliefs carry justification that does not require, or depend, on the justification of other empirical beliefs. In this essay, I intend to introduce the reading, “Can Empirical knowledge Have A foundation?” Written by Laurence Bonjour, to give a detailed summary of his arguments - as well as those who object to his - and ultimately to assert my belief that there is currently no example of an empirical belief that of which can be justified in an epistemic sense without avoiding reference to other empirical beliefs, which would then have to be justified themselves, not solving the regress problem.

Empiricism is based from sensory experience and observed facts. This view emphasizes that “scientific knowledge can be derived only from sensory experience” (Alligood, 2014, p. 15). Examples of sensory experience are seeing, feeling and hearing facts. This approach is labeled the research-then-theory strategy. An example that Alligood provides is that “formulating a differential diagnosis requires collecting the facts and then devising a list of possible theories to explain the facts” (2014, p. 16). Empiricists believe that reason alone does not give knowledge (Markie, 2017).