episteme

[ ep-uh-stee-mee ]

noun

1. Philosophy. (in the works of 20th-century philosopher Foucault) the set of ideas and assumptions, often unconscious, that underlie and constrain what is accepted as knowledge in a particular period:

   Technology or social revolution creates a new episteme that then shapes the nature of scientific and social enterprise.

2. any organized or scientific system of knowledge based on a set of explicit principles; paradigm:

   The project explores the formation and operation of the episteme of patent law as currently practiced by lawyers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of episteme¹

First recorded in 1840–45; from Greek epistḗmē “knowledge”

Example Sentences

There is episteme, which is connected with stasis, as mneme is with meno.

From Project Gutenberg