[From Greek empeirikos: relating to or derived from experience.]
(epistemology) A theory of knowledge holding that experience is the most reliable source of knowledge. In general, empiricism can be described as an approach to knowledge that emphasizes induction over deduction and reality over theory (as, for instance, in the essays of 16th century philosopher Francis Bacon). More specifically, the school of empiricism in the 17th and 18th centuries reacted against the excesses of medieval scholasticism and rationalism by formulating a more systematic grounding for empirical knowledge. The founder of that school was John Locke (1632-1704), whose epistemology tended towards representationalism rather than realism, leading eventually to the skepticism of David Hume (1711-1776). By empiricism is sometimes meant more narrowly a focus on scientific experiment, but a more appropriate term for that view is scientism or experimentalism.