epistemologist
Studies knowledge itself
An epistemologist is a philosopher who specializes in epistemology—the study of knowledge itself.
They investigate questions like what counts as knowledge, how we can know anything, and what distinguishes justified belief from mere opinion: The epistemologist challenged whether eyewitness testimony constitutes reliable knowledge.
Understood facts and skills
- truthAccordance with reality
- justificationReason proving rightness
- beliefTrust held as true
- skepticismDisposition toward doubt
certainty · doubt · evidence · rationality · objectivity · subjectivity · foundationalism · externalism
Seat of consciousness
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
intellect · thought · perception · comprehension · insight · judgment · metacognition · introspection
Knowledge through observation
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
- constructivismActive knowledge-building theory
positivism · realism · idealism · phenomenology · hermeneutics · analytic · continental · Descartes
Underlying support system
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
- axiomSelf-evident starting principle
postulate · thesis · argument · analysis · methodology · deduction · induction · abduction
knowledge
Understood facts and skills
- truthAccordance with reality
- justificationReason proving rightness
- beliefTrust held as true
skepticism · certainty · doubt · evidence · rationality · objectivity · subjectivity · foundationalism · externalism · a priori
mind
Seat of consciousness
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
awareness · intellect · thought · perception · comprehension · insight · judgment · metacognition · introspection · intuition
empiricism
Knowledge through observation
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
constructivism · positivism · realism · idealism · phenomenology · hermeneutics · analytic · continental · Descartes · Hume
framework
Underlying support system
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
axiom · postulate · thesis · argument · analysis · methodology · deduction · induction · abduction · counterexample
epistemologistmetaphysician
Scholar of ultimate reality
ethicist · aesthetician · logician · moral philosopher · political philosopher
epistemologistobscurantist
One opposing spread of knowledge
irrationalist · dogmatist · anti-intellectual · know-nothing · anti-intellectualist