Single Idea 6431

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique]

Full Idea

When I began to think about theory of knowledge, I found that none of the philosophers who emphasise 'experience' tells us what they mean by the word.

Gist of Idea

Empiricists seem unclear what they mean by 'experience'

Source

Bertrand Russell (My Philosophical Development [1959], Ch.11)

Book Reference

Russell,Bertrand: 'My Philosophical Development' [Routledge 1993], p.97


A Reaction

A very significant comment about empiricism. Hume does not seem very clear about what an 'impression' is. Russell's problem has been dealt with intensively by modern empiricists, who discuss 'the given', and conceptualised perception.