Epistemology
WordNet
noun
(1) The philosophical theory of knowledge
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From < + from . The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808-1864).
Noun
- The branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?".
- Some thinkers take the view that, beginning with the work of Descartes, epistemology began to replace metaphysics as the most important area of philosophy.
- A particular theory of knowledge.
- In his epistemology, Plato maintains that our knowledge of universal concepts is a kind of recollection.
Related terms
- epistemic
- epistemological
- epistemological turn
- epistemologist