Outline of epistemology

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to epistemology:

Epistemology (aka theory of knowledge) – branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808–1864). 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 (Pramana in Sanskrit)
 * 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
 * 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 (internalism), or outside sources of knowledge can be used to justify a belief (externalism).
 * 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

Related fields

 * Philosophy of science
 * Sociology of knowledge