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Empirical

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Last updated: 2026-07-31

Empirical means that something is based on experience, on observation, or on evidence we obtain through the senses (seeing, hearing, touching, measuring, experimenting).

In other words:

  • The empirical is what is known or justified from what happens in the real world and can be observed or verified.
  • It is opposed to the theoretical, the a priori, or the purely rational (what is deduced without needing to look outside).

Clear examples:

  • “Water boils at 100 °C at sea level” is empirical knowledge, because it was discovered by measuring and observing.
  • “2 + 2 = 4” is not empirical: it is a logical/mathematical truth that does not depend on experience.

In epistemology, empirical knowledge is that which comes from sensory experience, as distinct from rational or innate knowledge.

Categories: Home -> Dictionary

Last updated: 2026-07-31

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