empiricismn.

1658 G. Starkey Natures Explic. 245 The Chymistry of the Galenical Tribe is a ridiculous..and..dangerous Empericism.

1699 J. Drake & A. Baden tr. D. Le Clerc Hist. Physick ii. i. 107 We may say that the knowledge of those that practicd it during this interval, being shut up within the narrow bounds of Empiricism, men were content with knowing a few Remedies, which experience had shown to be proper for certain Diseases, without reasoning either upon the cause of the illness, or the operation of the remedies.

1735 London Mag. Apr. 202/1 At present we are infected with an Empiricomany or an Infatuation in Favour of Empiricism or Quackery.

1744 Philos. Trans. 1742–3 (Royal Soc.) 42 633 Postscript against Empiricism... I cannot forbear taking this Opportunity to assert the Impossibility of any Person's obtaining a competent Knowledge of the Art of Healing, by Practice only; without a previous Knowledge of Anatomy, and the Animal Oeconomy.

1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters ii. 47 The art became debased with empiricism.

1846 Prov. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 10 129/1 Although the treatment of ague by quinine partakes in some measure of empiricism, we shall find, on examination, that it is based upon correct principles.

1856 C. G. Comegys tr. P.-V. Renouard Hist. Med. i. ii. v. 70 They speak of instinctive or natural empiricism,..which is still daily followed by persons, strangers to the art, when they obtrude themselves to give counsels to the sick.

1883 Lancet 29 Sept. 548/2 Empiricism is slowly but surely dying out, and scientific therapy founded on a scientific pathology is occupying its seat.

1902 Med. News 20 Dec. 1153/1 The empiricism of to-day is not solely the method of osteopaths, Christian Scientists, and vendors of patent nostrums; it is found in the schools and the practice of legitimate medicine.

1969 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 11 Jan. 107/2 A bold surgeon's empiricism may achieve unexpected success.

1989 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 87 201/1 The term spiraling empiricism describes the inappropriate treatment, or the unjustifiable escalation of treatment, of suspected but undocumented infectious diseases.

2005 C. Yancy in C. M. O'Connor et al. Managing Acute Decompensated Heart Failure xii. 180/2 Many physicians..have reduced or eliminated their utilization of invasive hemodynamic monitoring and rely instead upon bedside observations and clinical empiricism to guide therapy.

1724 P. Shaw Juice of Grape Pref. iii The Distinction between a Medicine and a Meal, is a mere Empiricism.

1800 Rep. on Deb. House of Commons Irel. 15 Jan. 72 Ministers then cried out against all such empiricisms, in politics, yet they themselves now embrace all these empiricisms.

1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) iii. xiii. §5 The instances of new theories agreeing with..old empiricisms, are innumerable.

1910 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 24 539 A surmise may be ventured as to the root-fallacy underlying these crude empiricisms.

1939 Amer. Midland Naturalist 21 321 Specific field and laboratory observations have been made, and from these empiricisms certain generalizations may be drawn.

1978 Jrnl. Hydrol. 38 57 This result provides further evidence that the conceptual framework of the model and the assumptions and empiricisms within that framework, are physically sound.

2002 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 2 4509/1 Temptation to avoid theories and retreat into the supposed particularities of place and regions and thereby into naïve empiricisms can only lead to ad hoc theorisation.

2010 A. Faghri et al. Adv. Heat Multiple Transfer 187 Although the empiricisms cannot be completely eliminated, these extra equations will allow us to introduce the empiricisms in a logical manner.

1774 T. Pownall Admin. Brit. Colonies (ed. 5) II. 4 Every fleeting measure which the fluctuation and variableness of government, in the empiricism of its opinions for many years past, hath caught at, has been quoted as precedents of the true spirit of government towards the Colonies.

1775 J. Priestley Philos. Empiricism iv. 59 Suchlike long-exploded, and crude notions..are delivered in..a tone so solemn and authoritative, as gives me an idea that I cannot express otherwise than by the term Philosophical Empiricism.

1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ v. 332 ‘The practical claim of impeachment’..is the most sorry juggle of a political empiricism by which a people were ever attempted to be lulled into servitude.

1828 R. J. Bryce Sketch Plan for Syst. Educ. in Irel. (Knowsley Pamphlet Coll.) 32 The study of History we consider to be particularly useful in securing the people against being carried away by the hollow empiricism of political agitators.

1862 Musical Standard 15 Sept. 40/2 He fell into the hands of a pretender, and not having studied the art of singing personally, even theoretically, he was a mere victim to the most flagrant empiricism.

1920 Fornightly Rev. Dec. 941 [The government] brought in an Anti-Profiteering Bill which for sheer empiricism and imposture could hardly be matched.

1784 J. Richardson Statical Estimates Materials Brewing Pref. p. iv He was determined to persevere till he should be able to give the features, form and proportion of science to an object [sc. brewing] which has been, for centuries past, disguised by obstinate stupidity, and deformed by the empiricism of ridiculous old women.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. ii. ix. 399 Mere observation and empiricism, not even the commencement of science.

1846 R. Russell Let. in A. G. Fyfe Suggestions separating Culture of Sugar from Process Manuf. 40 I look also for increase of crops from..our rising yeomanry, whose rood or half acre of land has, by their own peculiar empiricism, produced more canes, and of a better growth, than their masters'.

1847 Douglas Jerrold's Shilling Mag. 6 174 So long as political phenomena are viewed as accidental..instead of..the necessary and invariable results of social laws, there can be nothing but empiricism in government.

1881 T. H. Huxley in Nature 11 Aug. 343/2 All true science begins with empiricism—though all true science is such exactly, in so far as it strives to pass out of the empirical stage.

1900 in 8th Ann. Rep. Phillippine Comm. (U.S. War Dept.) (1908) 660 It is necessary for the Government to duly foster the diffusion of agricultural knowledge and cause this empiricism, which nullifies with its tenacious opposition to every sort of improvement the natural fertility of the Philippine soil, to disappear.

1934 Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel 25 Apr. 5/1 A leader who finds himself suddenly in power at a moment of crisis has to choose between the easy ways of empiricism or the harder paths of system.

1969 J. P. Martino in Air University Rev. Mar. 20/1 Many instances of new technology arise out of sheer empiricism, with science later providing explanation and understanding.

1859 A. M. Adam tr. R. Virchow Johann Müller: Eloge 10 The Würzburg school, which..combined the natural history propensities of the epoch with genuine scientific empiricism [Ger. ächt wissenschaftlicher Empirie].

1869 Anthropol. Rev. 7 3 The necessity..of passing beyond the limits of observation or experiment renders it [sc. the mind] frequently unable to wait for that complete empiricism, without which, satisfactory induction is impossible.

1931 Harvard Law Rev. 44 1207 Here is the need for workable generalities built on rigorous empiricism.

1974 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 19 1015/2 The monograph provides an apt description of the utility of systems analysis in combining theory, empiricism, and experiment for a study of the tactics of marine ecosystems.

1996 M. Hall Archaeol. Afr. 38/1 The development of an archaeology of gender has been held back by archaeology's continuing empiricism—by the concentration on finding and describing things, rather than on interpreting them.

2012 Independent (Nexis) 16 June 36 There is urgent need for a return to some kind of empiricism in politics, a realpolitik based not on expediency, but on evidence.