epistemological

American  

[ih-pis-tuh-muh-loj-i-kuhl] / ɪˌpɪs tə məˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl /

adjective

1. pertaining to epistemology, a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

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epistemological British  

/ ɪˌpɪstɪməˈlɒdʒɪkəl /

adjective

1. concerned with or arising from epistemology

2. (of a philosophical problem) requiring an account of how knowledge of the given subject could be obtained

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Other Word Forms

• epistemologically adverb

Etymology

Origin of epistemological

epistemolog(y) + -ical

Example Sentences

It made him an epistemological rival of Kirk’s.

From Slate • Sep. 16, 2025

When your congregation zealously overestimates the epistemological functionality of empiricism in the work of logical positivism, you trap the conversation of science and consciousness in your lethally boring Vienna wagon-Circling.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2024

In doing so, the group has introduced a new tool, the "dahliagram," to enable researchers to analyze and visualize a wide array of quantitative and qualitative knowledge from diverse disciplinary sources and epistemological backgrounds.

From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2023

The epistemological and ontological nihilism of the closed cube argument frankly implodes upon itself.

From Washington Times • Jun. 14, 2023

The epistemological sloppiness that, in Western culture, characterizes references to experience before the Scientific Revolution is not a necessary characteristic of pre-scientific societies.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton