Invitation to Participate in the 17th Quarterly Lecture in the Philosophy of Science
John D. Norton (U Pittsburgh): Small-e Empiricism
Venue: Online via Zoom, 04 June 2026 (16:00 CEST)
Abstract: Small-e empiricism is a version of empiricism adapted to modern science. It changes traditional empiricism in two ways: First, traditional Big-E Empiricism has two components: we can only learn of the world through experience and ALL we learn is merely the content of that experience. Small-e empiricism retains the first component but discards the second, which is dismissed as an unsustainable form of inductive skepticism. Second, since instruments have replaced human sense organs as the principal way that modern science engages with the world, the notion of experience in small-e empiricism is not restricted to the excitations of human sense organs. It includes any physical process that connects continuously to the systems of interest.
All information, including the Zoom link and background readings, will be posted here: