section_path: Western/Early modern/Empiricism
section_name: Empiricism
paragraph_text: Empiricism
  
  Empiricism in the early modern period was mainly associated with British philosophy. John Locke (1632–1704) is often considered the father of empiricism. In his book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he rejected the notion of innate knowledge and argued that all knowledge is derived from experience. He asserted that the mind is a blank slate at birth, relying entirely on sensory experience to acquire ideas. Locke distinguished between primary qualities, which he believed are inherent in external objects and exist independently of any observer, and secondary qualities, which are the powers of objects to produce sensations in observers.
  
  George Berkeley (1685–1753) was strongly influenced by Locke but proposed a more radical form of empiricism. He developed a form of idealism, giving primacy to perceptions and ideas over material objects. Berkeley argued that objects only exist insofar as they are perceived by the mind, leading to the conclusion that there is no reality independent of perception.
  
  David Hume (1711–1776) also upheld the empiricist principle that knowledge is derived from sensory experience. However, he took this idea further by arguing that it is impossible to know with certainty that one event causes another. Hume's reasoning was that the connection between cause and effect is not directly perceivable. Instead, the mind observes consistent patterns between events and develops a habit of expecting certain outcomes based on prior experiences.
  
  The empiricism promoted by Hume and other philosophers had a significant impact on the development of the scientific method, particularly in its emphasis on observation, experimentation, and rigorous testing.