Empirical knowledge is an expression whose meaning refers to knowledge acquired through observation. It is a form of knowledge resulting from common sense, sometimes based on experience, without the need for scientific proof.
Based on empirical knowledge, it is possible to know that a certain action provokes a reaction, without, however, knowing the mechanism that leads from action to reaction. An example of this was, for centuries, the knowledge that when an object is dropped, it goes into free fall until it finds something to support it, even before the theory of gravitation was known.
As empirical knowledge is acquired in a naive way, through mere observation and based on simple deductions, it is sometimes liable to error. For example, for many centuries, it was accepted as a result of empirical knowledge that the Sun revolved around the Earth, with science having later showing that, contrary to what our perception may indicate, it is, in reality, the Earth that revolves around the Sun.
Other types of knowledge are: scientific knowledge, theological knowledge, philosophical knowledge, etc.
See too:
- Types of knowledge
- religious knowledge
- What is knowledge?