Epistemology: Concept, History and Doctrines

We explain that it is epistemology, the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, what is its function, history and the different currents.

Epistemology studies the principles, foundations and methods of knowledge.

What is epistemology?

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the theory of knowledge , using both the object and the subject to access knowledge, as well as the limits of knowledge itself.term comes from the Greek word ἐπιστήμη, which means knowledge.

The epistemology is often confused sometimes with the methodology , the philosophy of science and more recently with gnoseology, since all these sciences have in common that they study the process of knowledge construction.However, epistemology has differences that make it unique, being an indispensable tool for the analysis of science and its forms of development in general.

The function of epistemology is to crystallize, that is, to clarify what are the circumstances in which it can be known and what are its limits, that is, determines the scope and validity of knowledge .For this I used As a means to determine the validity or invalidity of knowledge, the arguments can be demonstrative, intuitive, using authority resources, among others.

The word epistemology is composed of "episteme," a term that derives from Greek and refers to knowledge or science.Formerly, classical thinkers used the term "episteme" to differentiate it from "tekne," referring the latter to the notion of technique, to instrumental knowledge.It also distinguished itself from the "doxa" or general knowledge and often associated with the plebs.

On the other hand, the term epistemology counts with the suffix « logos «, which refers to the study of a subject or thing .In this way we can conclude that epistemology is the study of knowledge.We will deepen this issue below.

Epistemology as a science aims to study the objective, historical and social circumstances of the production of different types of knowledge that are considered scientific, which are the criteria used to consider something as scientific, and works with concepts such as truth , justification, hypothesis, corroboration, etc.In synthesis, it is the study of how and under what conditions scientific knowledge is produced .It is considered one of the branches of philosophy.

See also: Paradigm.

Currents or epistemological doctrines

Dogmatism affirms that knowledge can be acquired since it is reality itself.

There are various schools or currents that deal with the subject of knowledge.Some of them are:

• Criticism. developed by Kant, who affirms that knowledge can be achieved, but for that it requires exhaustive analysis.


• Dogmatism. Instead, he affirms that knowledge can be acquired since it is reality itself.


• Skepticism. On the other hand, it is a totally antagonistic current, which denies the possibility of knowing the truth due to factors external to the subject of knowledge that do not allow him to access reality.

Other currents focus their attention on how to access knowledge:

• Empiricism. which states that the only way to access knowledge is through experience.


• Rationalism. which, on the other hand, states that the only way to achieve true knowledge is through the use of reason and logic.

Gnoseology and methodology

This distinction is important, since it is at this point that some current debates revolve.

Gnoseology is the study of knowledge in general (for example, mathematical knowledge, or some non-scientific knowledge), and many authors are struggling to erase the distinctions between this science and epistemology, looking for a unification of them.For example, the word epistemology is translated into English as « gnoseology «, but in Spanish-speaking countries this distinction is maintained.

With regard to the philosophy of science, it is considered to be broader than epistemology since they tend to deepen deeper issues or in certain more metaphysical cases, such as if we know through the senses, etc.The epistemology part of a basis already stipulated and does not seek to inquire about these issues.

The methodology strictly deals with the processes necessary to reach a certain knowledge , while not seeking to investigate the conditions that carried it out, or the conditions of legitimation.It can be considered as one of the branches most associated with the technique.

Follow in: Methodology.

History of epistemology

Galileo Galilei was a leading author in the field of epistemology.

This branch of philosophy has its origins in Ancient Greece .At this time knowledge could be classified according to way in which they had been achieved in doxa or episteme .The first ones refer to knowledge that has not been submitted to reflections, but which are acquired in an ordinary way.Epistemic knowledge, on the other hand, was achieved through rigorous reflection.

However, the concept of epistemology as we know it was started to be discussed during the Renaissance .Some of the most prominent authors in this area were Descartes, Galileo Galilei, Kant, Newton, among others This resurgence of epistemology was due to the emergence of scientific knowledge and the need to validate such knowledge.To do this, it analyzes the methods, procedures and foundations that are used in the field of science.

While talking about epistemology before the 19th century may at some point be anachronistic, we find some authors who have greatly influenced this discipline.Such is the case of Rene Descartes with the Speech of the Method, or John Locke and Immanuel themselves Kant.Philosophers of this size have been able to incorporate within their great theoretical framework notions about how scientific knowledge is produced, although epistemology as such did not yet exist.

Without a doubt, the epistemological school that had the greatest influence at the theoretical level and that revolutionized the discipline, despite the overwhelming criticisms that it would receive from one of its disciples, were the logical neo-positivists, grouped in the famous Vienna Circle, a group of intellectuals who studied the logical forms of thought and the construction of scientific knowledge, saw Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein as their maximum inspirers.It was the first great school of epistemology of the twentieth century, in charge of study of the logical forms of the statements and establishing criteria based on the logic.

It will be Karl Popper who discusses the basis on which the epistemology was raised of the logical neopositivists, when criticizing the induction criterion, understood as the process by which a singular statement through From many verifications a more general knowledge is reached.Popper postulates that this is not only impossible, but that it has serious consequences, and will replace it with the logical-deductive method, understanding that no theory is verified, but that it is only corroborated until Let a new knowledge put it into question.