Empiricism is the belief in philosophy or psychology that all knowledge is the result of our experiences (the tabula rasa or "blank slate" theory). Empiricism is closely allied with (philosophical) materialism and positivism and opposed to Intuitionism.
Empiricism, together with rationalism is generally regarded as being at the heart of modern Scientific Method, that our theories should be based on our observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith.
Names associated with empiricism include Aristotle, Francis Bacon, John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume