empirio-criticism
Noun (philosophy): A philosophical doctrine, developed primarily by Richard Avenarius and Ernst Mach, that seeks to provide a "critical" (rigorous, scientific) analysis of experience ("empirio-") by purging it of any metaphysical assumptions or unobservable entities. It attempts to describe the world solely in terms of pure, neutral, sense-experience data, without recourse to concepts like "matter" or "mind" as separate substances.
- (A philosophical movement that critiqued traditional metaphysics.)
- (A specific philosophical school criticized for its anti-materialist stance.)
- (A philosophy that attempted to ground knowledge in pure sensory data.)
"The program of empirio-criticism": The specific set of principles and methods advocated by Avenarius and Mach for analyzing experience.
- The program of empirio-criticism aimed to eliminate the "introjection" of mental states into the physical world. (The systematic project to purify experience of metaphysical dualisms.)
"Empirio-criticism's principle of economy of thought": A key tenet that the simplest description of sensory data is the most valid.
- Mach's principle of economy of thought, central to empirio-criticism, influenced later logical positivism. (A methodological rule to avoid unnecessary concepts.)
Empirio-criticist (noun): A follower or proponent of empirio-criticism.
- As an empirio-criticist, she rejected any talk of "things-in-themselves" beyond experience. (An adherent of this philosophical school.)
Empirio-critical (adjective): Relating to or characteristic of empirio-criticism.
- His empirio-critical analysis reduced all knowledge claims to statements about sensations. (Pertaining to the method of this philosophy.)
- Critical empiricism: A broader term for philosophies that emphasize a critical examination of experience, though not identical to empirio-criticism.
- Positivism (in some contexts): Especially the early positivism of Comte, which also sought to base knowledge on observable facts; however, empirio-criticism is a distinct movement.
- Machism: A term sometimes used interchangeably with empirio-criticism, especially when emphasizing Ernst Mach's contributions.
"To purge experience of metaphysics": The central goal of empirio-criticism.
- The empirio-criticists sought to purge experience of metaphysics by denying the reality of any entity not directly sensed. (To remove all unobservable, speculative elements from descriptions of the world.)
"The neutral monism of experience": The idea that the "given" in experience is neither mental nor physical but neutral.
- According to empirio-criticism, the neutral monism of experience dissolves the mind-body problem. (The view that experience itself is the fundamental, undivided reality.)