Empirical Methods Flashcards
Empirical
Based on direct experience or observation
Intuition
Knowledge based on spontaneous perception or judgement rather than on explicit reasoning
Common sense
Practical intelligence that is widely shared among people
Types of common sense
General knowledge and expertise
Common sense problem solving triangle
Thinking-testing-observation
Common sense limitations
- Socially and culturally relative
- Overly pragmatic
- Insufficiently self critical
Mystical insight
Insight gained through private experience during an altered state of consciousness
Aspects of mystical experience
- Profound meaningfulness
- Subjective certainty
- Ineffability
Mystical insight limitations
Incommunicable
Potentially fallible
Scientific research
Knowledge based on explicit and publicly verifiable observations
Features of scientific knowledge
Explicit, articulate, propositional
Separability of insight and verification.
Context of discovery
The phase of scientific investigation during which new ideas are proposed
Context of justification
The phase of scientific investigation during which ideas are systematically tested
Teleological criteria
What is considered scientific is determined in part by the researchers objective
Meta-theoretical criteria
Scientific approaches should have an acceptable philosophical foundation.
Logical positivism: operational definitions
Realism: converging operations
