Empirical knowledge: what it is, characteristics, types and examples

Empirical knowledge is closely related to scientific knowledge insofar as both claim to know what reality is like. However, the first takes special importance on the sensation and perception of living beings, objects and phenomena through the senses.

This type of knowledge is factual, but not as objective as scientific knowledge, although it is which is more based on material objects as compared to philosophical knowledge and religious.

Next we will talk more in depth about what is empirical knowledge, how it is obtained, what types there are, what are its characteristics and main differences with scientific knowledge, in addition to seeing some examples of daily life.

• Related article: "The 14 types of knowledge: what are they?"

What is empirical knowledge?

Empirical knowledge is that which is obtained through direct experience or perception of the real world, either through experimentation or observation of a phenomenon, without resorting to abstractions or imagination. We form this type of knowledge based on our personal experience capturing the characteristics of living beings, objects and phenomena in the world through our senses. Thus, we can capture the colors, shapes, smells, textures, sounds and others of what makes up reality.

Materialist approximations of reality, which are those that seek to understand what there is from what there is, are made through empirical knowledge and perception. Although this makes empirical knowledge subjective and is also called non-scientific knowledge, It has also been this type of knowledge that has served as the foundation for the emergence of modern science. and scientific thought and method. The empirical is radically opposed to the concept of religious and philosophical knowledge, more of an abstract, imaginative and metaphysical nature.

Types of empirical knowledge

We can talk about two types of empirical knowledge. They are next.

1. Particular

Particular empirical knowledge is that which refers to specific cases of reality, knowledge of which it is not possible to guarantee that it can be applied to all cases in general.

For example, the phrase "birds fly" would be a case of particular empirical knowledge since it is not possible to generalize and say that all birds fly. They may be some, they may be the majority, but they are not all.

2. Quota

It is that type of knowledge in which specific characteristics are attributed to an object but it could be the case that in the future it lacks them, either because that object changes or because it has different characteristics depending on the context and situation in which it is found.

Taking the same example above, it is conceivable that, although all the birds we have seen in our lives fly, it may not be so in the future (p. eg, they will lose their feathers and will no longer be able to fly) or what, depending on the situation, they are unable to do so.

• You may be interested in: "David Hume's empiricist theory"

Characteristics

The main characteristics of empirical knowledge are the following six:

1. based on experience

Obtaining empirical knowledge is done through experience, interacting with the phenomenon that you want to capture and learn about it.

For example, to know what a rose is like, it is necessary to see one, smell it, touch its stem and discover that it stings.

2. Limited to sensory perception

empirical knowledge can only be acquired through the senses. In case of not having all the senses (hearing, taste, sight, touch and smell) or having any of them altered, this implies a limitation of the experience and, consequently, limits the acquisition of knowledge.

For example, a blind person cannot have empirical knowledge of colors. You may have learned in school that the sky is blue or that blood is red, but you have never seen those colors and can't figure out what they are like.

3. Subjective

Empirical knowledge is subjective. To acquire it, each person uses their own senses., which may be altered or capture information in different ways. The experiences depend on what the person perceives and how he perceives it, which makes the experience itself not objective.

For example, if two people walk into an operating room, they will notice that the walls are somewhere between blue and green. One may say that the color is blue-green, while the other considers it to be more of a bluish-green. See they see the same thing, but their way of interpreting it is different

4. unsystematic and not verifiable

Empirical knowledge is neither verifiable nor measurable, only the factual supports it. Neither does it require steps to follow or a precise method to obtain that knowledge, since the world is captured as it is with nothing more than our senses.

For example, if we caress our pet's fur, it may be a very pleasant feeling. That pleasure is not objectively quantifiable, there is no unit of measure for how pleasant it is. something nor can another person verify whether or not we find it pleasant to caress our pet.

5. Particular

Empirical knowledge cannot be applied to all phenomena or generalized and say that it is the opinion or reality of the whole world, in other words, it is particular knowledge.

Each person incorporates and assimilates this knowledge in their own way.from him, from his own way of interpreting the world based on his own beliefs and previous experiences, which makes empirical knowledge imprecise.

For example, if someone considers that "The Scream" by Edvard Munch is an ugly and grotesque painting, that is their opinion based on his experience, while others may say that he is easy on the eye and very pretty. Be that as it may, a general conclusion cannot be applied that says that everyone thinks that the painting of "El Grito" is ugly.

6. It is practical

empirical knowledge has applications in everyday life, allowing us to understand daily phenomena according to what we perceive with our senses. However, it does not serve to develop theories or generalizations.

Some examples of empirical knowledge

Let's see some examples of empirical knowledge typical of everyday life.

• Understand that fire burns because, if we get close, we feel extreme heat.
• Learn to ride a bike riding one and trying it out.
• Knowing that the Sun can blind us because it hurts our eyes to stare at it.
• Taste the chocolate and discover that it tastes sweet and bitter.
• Learn the traditional dances of a culture by observing it.
• Associate that a gray sky can mean rain.
• Learn a new language through practice.
• Know the appropriate place and time to fish in a lake.
• Associate that the arrival of summer means heat and lots of sun.
• Look in the mirror and understand that whoever appears in it is our reflection.

What are the differences between empirical and scientific knowledge?

As we have commented, empirical knowledge has been very important for the appearance of the modern concept of science. This type of knowledge, together with the doctrine of empiricism, were key to the appearance of the scientific method. Both are two ways of understanding reality, but each one has its own methods and systems to generate new knowledge.. They are not comparable and, in fact, the first is also known as non-scientific knowledge.

As we said, empirical knowledge is based on personal experience and the perception of information. that one captures through his senses, with which he can establish his own conclusions about reality. That is, the empirical is subjective. Instead, scientific knowledge is based on evidence and the application of standardized methods. to verify the data that is available and generate knowledge that is as objective and close to reality possible.

Scientific knowledge is based on specific hypotheses, linked or not to the empirical. These hypotheses are intended to become an explanation of the real world, something that empirical knowledge does not offer. In addition, scientific knowledge must be verified by means of a specific method with demonstrations and tests (scientific method), that is, it is systematic, a characteristic contrary to empirical knowledge in which experience is captured without any process beyond sensation and perception.

For example, it is a verifiable fact that birds fly, empirical knowledge. We know this simply by watching birds do just that, fly. However, knowing how they do it, why there are species of birds that cannot fly and at what point in evolutionary history did the ancestors of modern birds went from not being able to do it to being able to do it are questions that cannot be answered with simple experience, but rather we require specialized abstract knowledgethat is, the scientist.

Bibliographic references:

• Pickett, J.P., ed. (2011). empirical. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 5th ed. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-547-04101-8
• Feldmann, R. (1999) Evidence, in Robert Audi, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, p. 293–294
• Dingle, H. (1941) The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge. Nature 147, 286–290. https://doi.org/10.1038/147286a0