- Question
What is knowledge?
What does it mean to know something? This entry maps the epistemological debate over the nature of knowledge — whether it is shaped by social conditions and structures, or whether it can be genuinely objective.
Knowledge is predicated on social conditions
This position holds that knowledge is predicated on social conditions — it cannot be understood in isolation, existing only within a particular social context. It argues that the social structures we inhabit shape what we can know and what counts as knowledge in the first place.
Knowledge can be objective
This position holds that knowledge can be objective when it is derived from rationalist principles. It argues that reason — applying foundations such as the principle of sufficient reason (PSR) — can yield knowledge that is genuinely objective, independent of social conditions.