Overview
Empiricism refers to the beliefs and practices that emphasize the value of data that can be observed in forming models of the world. This contrasts with rationalists or idealists who argue that logical principles should come first as a lens to interpret empirical data. For instance, if we conduct some experiment that suggests 2 + 2 = 5, an empiricist might argue that we have to revise the logical principles that made us think 2 + 2 = 4, while an idealist might argue that the experiment should be examined more closely for another factor producing 5. In practice, most people are not radical empiricists or radical idealists.