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How has the concept of empiricism evolved over time in the field of philosophy?

  • Philosophy -> Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge

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How has the concept of empiricism evolved over time in the field of philosophy?

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Noemie La

Empiricism is a fancy word that means we can learn about the world through our senses, like what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. A long time ago, people used to think that we could learn things just by thinking really hard about them. But then, some really smart philosophers started to say that we needed to test our ideas out in the real world.

One of the most famous empiricists was a man named Francis Bacon. He said that we needed to use experiments and observations to learn about the world. This way, we wouldn't just be guessing or making things up.

Over time, other philosophers built on Bacon's ideas and started to use the scientific method to learn about the world. The scientific method is a way of doing experiments that helps us make sure we're really learning something. We start with a question, like "What color is this ball?" Then, we come up with a hypothesis (a fancy word for a guess). "I think the ball is blue." We test our hypothesis by doing experiments, like looking at the ball in different light or trying to match it to other blue things. If we find out our hypothesis is wrong, then we think of a new one and keep trying.

Today, most people who study the world use the scientific method and empiricism to learn new things. We can learn about the human body, the environment, and even outer space by using this method. It's really cool to think about all the things we can learn just by using our senses!

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