Empiricism

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The method or practice of an empiric; pursuit of knowledge by observation and experiment.

(2): ( n.) Specifically, a practice of medicine founded on mere experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles; ignorant and unscientific practice; charlatanry; quackery.

(3): ( n.) The philosophical theory which attributes the origin of all our knowledge to experience.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A philosophical term applied to the theory that all knowledge is derived from the senses and experience alone, to the rejection of the theory of innate ideas; Locke, in modern times, is the great representative of the school that advocates this doctrine supported by Aristotle.