Empiricism

Empiricism is the philosophical view that all knowledge is derived from experience. This means both senses and inner thought—contrary to rationalism.

Empiricism holds that knowledge, because it is based soley on the past, can never reach a level of absolute certainty—only high probability. (Although most people of this doctrine do accept some basic truths—such as the laws of logic and mathematics… John Stuart Mill, though, still held that these were based on experience.)