empiricism

In philosophy, the belief that all knowledge is ultimately derived from sense experience. It is suspicious of metaphysical schemes based on a priori propositions, which are claimed to be true irrespective of experience. It is frequently contrasted with rationalism.

Empiricism developed in the 17th and early 18th centuries through the work of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, traditionally known as the British empiricist school.