epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called the theory of knowledge, it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in the form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief, truth, and justification to understand the nature of knowledge. To discover how knowledge arises, they investigate sources of justification, such as perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony.
AI overview
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies what knowledge is, where it comes from, and what its limits are—examining questions about belief, truth, and how we justify what we claim to know. It matters because understanding how we know things helps us distinguish between genuine knowledge and mere opinion, and explores the various sources we rely on—like perception, memory, reason, and what others tell us—to form reliable beliefs about the world.
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Article
25 sectionsContents
- Definition
- Central concepts
- Knowledge
- Types
- Analysis
- Value
- Belief and truth
- Justification
- Sources
- Other concepts
- Major schools of thought
- Skepticism and fallibilism
- Empiricism and rationalism
- Foundationalism and coherentism
- Internalism and externalism
- Branches and approaches
- Knowledge in particular domains
- Related fields
- History
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Citations
- Bibliography
- External links
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called the theory of knowledge, it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in the form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief, truth, and justification to understand the nature of knowledge. To discover how knowledge arises, they investigate sources of justification, such as perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony.
The school of skepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge, while fallibilism says that knowledge is never certain. Empiricists hold that all knowledge comes from sense experience, whereas rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it. Coherentists argue that a belief is justified if it is consistent with other beliefs. Foundationalists, by contrast, maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Internalism and externalism debate whether justification is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances.