The philosophy that emphasizes experience as a means to test ideas and that knowledge arises from experimentation is known as?

• A. Pragmatism
• B. Progressivism
• C. Zen Buddhism
• D. Experimentalism

Answer: (D)

Experimentalism centers on learning by doing and testing ideas through experience and experiments. It treats knowledge as something that comes from observing outcomes, conducting controlled or real-world tests, and then updating or discarding ideas based on what the results show. In this view, the value of an idea isn’t just in theory but in how well it stands up to empirical scrutiny and prediction.

Pragmatism also involves experience, but its focus is on the practical usefulness and consequences of ideas for guiding action, rather than on the experimental process as the sole path to knowledge. Zen Buddhism centers on inner insight and meditation rather than empirical testing, and Progressivism is a social-political movement rather than a theory about how knowledge is formed.