What is the intellectual foundation of the statement in question, and what are its assumptions and philosophy of science?

Week 1 discussion | Seminar in Organizational Theory

The intellectual foundation of the statement in question is based upon empiricism, which is the philosophical viewpoint that knowledge can only be acquired through experience and observation. This philosophy is closely associated with John Locke, who was a major Enlightenment thinker, and one of the fathers of modern philosophy. The core assumption behind empiricism is that all knowledge must come from external experiences; it assumes that humans learn by means of sense perception from our environment. This informs the notion that we cannot rely on authority or tradition to develop our understanding – we must observe for ourselves to gather empirical evidence and form conclusions about what we see in nature.

In terms of science, this statement implies an epistemology (theory or study of how knowledge can be acquired) which suggests that scientific theories should be based on verifiable data derived from observable phenomena rather than pure speculation. It supports inductive reasoning as opposed to deductive reasoning, meaning it focuses more on generalizations than pure logic or mathematical proof when making claims about reality. It also encourages scientists to use experimentation in order to test hypotheses to gain insight into observed phenomena. Finally, this statement implies a belief in falsifiability: if something cannot be tested then it’s not considered scientific – no matter how certain someone may feel about its truthfulness without any evidence to back it up.