empirism

Noun

empiricism (countable and uncountable, plural empiricisms)

1. A doctrine which holds that the only or, at least, the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, especially perception by means of the physical senses. (Often contrasted with rationalism.)
   • Empiricism teaches us that we are unceasingly and intimately in contact with a full, living, breathing Reality, that experience is a constant communion with the real.1893 Sep, James Seth, “The Truth of Empiricism.”, in The Philosophical Review, volume 2, number 5, page 552
2. A pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation.
   • Our whole life in some of its highest and most important aspects is simply empiricism. Empiricism is only another word for experience.1885, Gerard F. Cobb, "Musical Psychics," Proceedings of the Musical Association, 11th Session, p. 119
3. Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc.
4. (historical) Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles.
   • Near-synonyms: folk medicine; quackery; charlatanry

   Synonyms:

   folk medicine, quackery, charlatanry