Empirical Knowledge: What It Is, Characteristics, Types And Examples

Empiricism (from the Greek empirìa, “experience”), is a philosophical branch, born in the second half of the 17th century in England, according to which human knowledge derives exclusively from the senses or experience. In a broad sense, today “empiricism” is understood as a practical and experimental approach to knowledge, based on research and a posteriori way of proceeding, preferred to pure deductive logic.

He empirical knowledge It is a product of experience; It is acquired when the sense organs establish contact with the outside world< This type of knowledge has allowed humanity to accumulate valuable and diverse experiences along its history.

The use of fire, the emergence of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals, are some examples of empirical knowledge that has been transmitted from generation to generation. The validity of much empirical knowledge about medicine, astronomy, agriculture, navigation and construction, among others, has been proven with daily practice.

Empirical knowledge is characterized by the following:

• Empirical knowledge uses sensory data as the basis of any way of knowing and proceeds from sensation to concept and not vice versa.
• Empiricism states that knowledge is acceptance of sensory data in its concrete and particular immediacy.
• In human knowledge we always start from the particular: there are no universal notions that condition the movement of thought, but the universality of notions (obtained through generalizations) is only a point of arrival, an achievement. The method of empiricism is therefore induction<
• Empiricism does not recognize any knowledge that does not come from an immediate contact of the subject with the object. The primary source of all knowledge is empirical data that takes the name of sensations, perceptions, impressions but also ideas<
• Empiricism limits the scope of knowledge to empirical data and denies thought the possibility of going beyond, therefore denies the possibility of a metaphysics<

Two different types of empirical knowledge can be identified, one particular and the other contingent.

1. He particular empirical knowledge It is identified because it refers to specific situations, to a unique reality. However, it is not possible to guarantee that the experience-based experience can be applied to other cases in a generalized way.
2. On the other hand the contingent empirical knowledge It is identified by describing characteristics that can be attributed to an event. However, they could change in the near future for several reasons.

Empirical is an adjective often related to the term science, and is used in both the natural sciences and social sciences, and this means the use of working hypotheses that can be disproved by observation or experiment (i.e. that is, ultimately from experience). In another sense, the term empirical in science can be synonymous with experimental.

Scientific knowledge, on the other hand, is obtained as a result of appropriate methodical research, which allows the discovery of constant relationships about facts and phenomena. Let’s see, by points, what are the biggest differences between the two types of knowledge:

• The objective of empirical knowledge is to know the observable reality in order to solve problems practical of society; that of scientific knowledge is to describe, explain theoretically, predict and transform reality<
• The object of study of empirical knowledge includes the working tools of the human being and the field of work and social activity; that of scientific knowledge is defined, real and includes the essence of reality.
• Empirical knowledge does not use special methods of knowledge contrary to scientific knowledge.
• Empirical knowledge does not develop theoretical systems: knowledge takes the form of concrete indicators (it does not present a theoretical-methodological basis). Scientific knowledge, on the other hand, elaborates theoretical systems verifiable in practice, and is guided by scientific philosophical principles.

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