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David Hume (/ h juː m /; born David Home; 7 May 1711 – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. [1]
In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience and empirical evidence. [1] It is one of several competing views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism .
Hume's introduction presents the idea of placing all science and philosophy on a novel foundation: namely, an empirical investigation into human psychology.He begins by acknowledging "that common prejudice against metaphysical reasonings [i.e., any complicated and difficult argumentation]", a prejudice formed in reaction to "the present imperfect condition of the sciences" (including the ...
Believe me, you must master the essence [Wesen], the natura naturans, which presupposes a bond between [mother]nature in the higher sense and the soul of man [human nature]." ( On Poesy or Art 1818 ) There is a method for discovering both: the sensible world of nature out there (though also within us), via a simple desire to explore; and the ...
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called theory of knowledge , it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in the form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience.
[33] Kuhn also claims that all science is based on assumptions about the character of the universe, rather than merely on empirical facts. These assumptions – a paradigm – comprise a collection of beliefs, values and techniques that are held by a given scientific community, which legitimize their systems and set the limitations to their ...
The terms empirical and observable are closely related and sometimes used as synonyms. [19] There is an active debate in contemporary philosophy of science as to what should be regarded as observable or empirical in contrast to unobservable or merely theoretical objects. There is general consensus that everyday objects like books or houses are ...
Those philosophers who disagree with this reasoning therefore also see knowledge differently from Aristotle. Aristotle then, described nature or natures as follows, in a way quite different from modern science: [8] "Nature" means: (a) in one sense, the genesis of growing things — as would be suggested by pronouncing the υ of φύσις [9 ...