What does Empiricism mean?
This is a branch of Philosophy that deals with experience and where our ideas of things come from' Empiricism' is Greek for experience. It's probably best discussed by the 17th and 18th century thinkers John Locke and David Hume. Locke thought that when we are born we are a 'Tabular Rasa' which is Latin for 'Blank Slate' It means we are born with no innate ideas and it is only our experiences that help us form ideas of objects and feelings. Hume went even further explaining that we can know nothing without first having a sensory experience of it. He was once challenged by the objection that a person may have never experienced a golden mountain but we have an idea of it. Hume countered with the rebuttal that this is in fact just a composite of gold and a mountain. Can you think of a colour you haven't seen? This is what Empiricism would ask you!
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