Literary notes about empirical (AI summary)
In literature the term “empirical” is used to denote that which is rooted in direct experience or observation rather than in pure reason or abstraction. Philosophers such as William James emphasize that empirical discoveries are based on what is verifiable and driven by sensory input ([1]), while Kant and his contemporaries distinguish between knowledge acquired a priori and knowledge that is empirical in nature ([2], [3], [4]). Moreover, thinkers like Bertrand Russell define empirical knowledge as that which is wholly or partly derived from experience ([5], [6]), underscoring its role in undergirding scientific inquiry and observable phenomena. At times, the term is also critiqued for being associated with the crude or unrefined aspects of human understanding ([7]), illustrating the complex interplay between lived experience and intellectual analysis in literature.
- Where the discoveries are empirical, no one pretends that the propulsive agency, the force that makes the knowledge develop, is mere conception.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - Pure knowledge a priori is that with which no empirical element is mixed up.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - The quality of sensation is in all cases merely empirical, and cannot be represented a priori (for example, colours, taste, etc.).
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - Knowledge of this kind is called a priori, in contradistinction to empirical knowledge, which has its sources a posteriori, that is, in experience.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - The case may be made clearer by considering a genuinely-empirical generalization, such as 'All men are mortal.'
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - Knowledge is called empirical when it rests wholly or partly upon experience.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - The word empirical in its ordinary use does not mean "connected with experiment," but rather crude and unrational.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey
