Empiricism, Sensationalism, Rationalism, & Positivism As we described in Part 2, science is a distinct type of philosophy. The Renaissance and Enlightenment philosophers who established what we today think of as science are customarily classified by their stance on a few basic, philosophical, perspectives: empiricism, sensationalism, rationalism, and positivism.   Empiricism and sensationalism both refer to the belief thatContinue reading "The Birth of Science: A Primer on Intellectual History (Part 3)"