empiricism

Noun

empiricism

1. The method or practice of an empiric; pursuit of knowledge by observation and experiment.
   • 1951 January 1, Albert Einstein, letter to Maurice Solovine, as published in Letters to Solovine (1993)

     I have found no better expression than "religious" for confidence in the rational nature of reality.... Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.

2. Specifically, a practice of medicine founded on mere experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles; ignorant and unscientific practice.
3. The philosophical theory which attributes the origin of all our knowledge to experience.

Synonyms:

• (medical practice founded on experience): charlatanry, quackery