I don’t think the circular justification of empiricism is the biggest problem with
it. The other problem is that empiricism is limited.
Pure empiricism can operate without assumptions, but can’t do very much. It cannot interpret or build models. Using pure empiricism, you might be able to predict that a big yellow shniy think will appear over the horizon tomorrow, but you won’t be able to say that a giant fusion reactor will appear over the horizon tomorrow, because that’s an interpretation of the evidence.
Science is not pure empiricism … it is something that incorporates empiricism
I don’t think the circular justification of empiricism is the biggest problem with it. The other problem is that empiricism is limited.
Pure empiricism can operate without assumptions, but can’t do very much. It cannot interpret or build models. Using pure empiricism, you might be able to predict that a big yellow shniy think will appear over the horizon tomorrow, but you won’t be able to say that a giant fusion reactor will appear over the horizon tomorrow, because that’s an interpretation of the evidence.
Science is not pure empiricism … it is something that incorporates empiricism