Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Observation
(2,632 words)

1. Concept

Observation (Latin observatio) is the main source of empirical knowledge, and together with experiment represents the key procedure of natural science and the empirical spheres of the humanities and social sciences (Empiricism). As directed attention focused on specific objects or aspects of objects, observation is also found in non-scientific spheres of life, for example in a draftsman observing her subject, a soldie…

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Steinle, Friedrich, “Observation”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 27 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_017471>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200128



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