Empiricism

This is the idea that all knowledge is gained through observation. Empiricists believe that all knowledge is acquired by observation. Or to put it another way, observation is the ultimate standard by which all truth claims are tested.

Points to Ponder:

• A good worldview must be logically consistent.
• If one begins with a false assumption, one's conclusion can only be false.
• The empiricist must eventually answer the question how he knows that "all knowledge is gained through observation." Since clearly this is not something that the empiricist has observed (knowledge cannot be seen.)
• How can anybody know that empiricism itself is true, if all things are indeed know by observation?
• If empiricism is proved some way other than through observation, then it refutes itself.
• If the empiricist's ultimate standard did happen to be true, the empiricist could never actually know that it is true. He could not prove it!
• Empiricism destroys the possibility of actually knowing anything.
• Is empiricism logically consistent?

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