Essay:Empiricism: The Idiots Philosophy

Empiricism was certainly an influential philosophy at one period of time, but to be an empiricist in 2015 (the time of writing) is an admission of incurable idiocy. The basic doctrine of empiricism is that nothing can be known except through experience of our senses. So of course this philosophy is popular among scientists, atheists and other detritus. It appeals to them as it removes from them the burden of thinking.

Why its wrong
First of all, human senses are notoriously unreliable. Secondly, certain kinds of knowledge for example mathematics, is derived purely from our imaginations and intuitions and yet often applies to experience. How is such knowledge possible? The empiricist has to say that the ideas must have come from experience. But anyone with a knowledge of mathematics will tell you that many mathematical ideas had no connection with experience when they were derived. So unless empiricists want to deny all mathematical knowledge their position is ridiculous. Finally, its wrong because it encourages people to experience rather than think and to create conclusions based on their narrow worldview rather than on universal principles.