Outline of epistemology
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to epistemology:
Epistemology - branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier. Epistemology asks questions such as: "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", and "What do people know?"
Core topics of epistemology
- Knowledge
- * Sources of knowledge
- ** Perception
- ** Memory
- ** Introspection
- ** Inference
- ** Testimony
- * Types of knowledge
- ** Descriptive knowledge – "Knowledge that"
- ** Procedural knowledge – "Knowledge how"
- ** Knowledge by acquaintance
- * A priori and a posteriori
- * Analytic–synthetic distinction
- * Gettier problem
- Justification
- * Regress argument
- ** Münchhausen trilemma
- * Theories of justification
- ** Foundationalism – Basic beliefs justify other, non-basic beliefs.
- ** Coherentism – Beliefs are justified if they cohere with other beliefs a person holds, each belief is justified if it coheres with the overall system of beliefs.
- ** Infinitism – Beliefs are justified by infinite chains of reasons.
- ** Foundherentism – Both fallible foundations and coherence are components of justification—proposed by Susan Haack.
- ** Internalism and externalism – The believer must be able to justify a belief through internal knowledge, or outside sources of knowledge can be used to justify a belief.
- ** Innatism – The mind is born with knowledge.
- ** Reformed epistemology – Beliefs are warranted by proper cognitive function—proposed by Alvin Plantinga.
- ** Evidentialism – Beliefs depend solely on the evidence for them.
- ** Reliabilism – A belief is justified if it is the result of a reliable process.
- ** Infallibilism – Knowledge is incompatible with the possibility of being wrong.
- ** Fallibilism – Claims can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified.
- ** Non-justificationism – Knowledge is produced by attacking claims and refuting them instead of justifying them.
- * Falsification (Falsifiability)
- * Proof (truth)
- ** Standard of proof
- Truth
- * Criteria of truth
- Belief
- * Belief revision
- Virtue epistemology
- * Unity of knowledge and action
Schools of thought
- Empiricism
- Rationalism
- Epistemological skepticism
- Pragmatism
- Naturalized epistemology
- Contextualism
- Relativism
- Constructivist epistemology
- Idealism
- Bayesian epistemology
- Feminist epistemology
- Innatism
- Naïve realism
- Phenomenalism
- Positivism
- Critical rationalism
Domains of inquiry in epistemology
- Formal epistemology – subdiscipline of epistemology that uses formal methods from logic, probability theory and computability theory to elucidate traditional epistemic problems
- * Computational epistemology
- Historical epistemology – study of the historical conditions of, and changes in, different kinds of knowledge
- Meta-epistemology – metaphilosophical study of the subject, matter, methods and aims of epistemology and of approaches to understanding and structuring knowledge of knowledge itself
- Social epistemology – study of collective knowledge and the social dimensions of knowledge