knowledge

See also learning; thinking; understanding.

acatalepsy

the Skeptic doctrine that knowledge cannot be certain. —acataleptic, n.

agnoiology, agnoeology

Archaic. the study of human ignorance.

anti-intellectualism

antagonism to learning, education, and the educated, expressed in literature in a conscious display of simplicity, earthiness, even colorful semi-literacy. —anti-intellectual, n., adj.

arcanum

a secret or mystery; carefully hidden knowledge. See also alchemy. —arcana, n. pi.

chrestomathics

the teaching of useful knowledge. —chrestomathic, adj.

clerisy

men of learning as a class or collectively; the intelligentsia or literati.

determinacy

the state of being determinate; the quality of being certain or precise.

empiricism

a system of acquiring knowledge that rejects all o priori knowledge and relies solely upon observation, experimentation, and induction. Also empirism. —empiricist, n., adj. —empiric, empirical, adj.

encyclopedism

1. the command of a wide range of knowledge.

2. the writings and thoughts of the 18th-century French Encyclopedists, especially an emphasis on scientific rationalism. —encyclopedist, n.

epistemology

the branch of philosophy that studies the origin, nature, methods, validity, and limits of human knowledge. —epistemologist, n. — epistemic, epistemological, adj.

epistemophilia

an excessive love or reverence for knowledge. —epistemophiliac, n., adj.

experimentalism

a reliance on principles of empiricism in philosophy or science. —experimentalist, n.

expertism

the characteristic of being an expert.

factualism

1. excessive concern for f acts.

2. a theory or belief relying heavily on fact. — factualist, n. — factualistic, adj.

gnosiology, gnoseology

the philosophy of knowledge and the human faculties for learning, Also called gnostology. —gnosiological, gnoseological, adj.

illuminism

1. (l.c.) the claim to possess superior knowledge.

2. the beliefs or claims of certain religious groups or sects that they possess special religious enlightenment. —Illuminati, illuminati, Illuminist, illuminist, n.

inconsequentia

trifling or inconsequential facts or trivia.

inscience

Obsolete, ignorance or the absence of knowledge. —inscient, adj.

intellectualism

1. the exercise of the intellect.

2. a devotion to intellectual activities.

3. an excessive emphasis on intellect and a resulting neglect of emotion. —intellectualistic, adj.

intuitionalism, intuitionism.

1. Metaphysics. the doctrine that the reality of perceived external objects is known intuitively, without the intervention of a representative idea.

2. Metaphysics. the doctrine that knowledge rests upon axiomatic truths discerned intuitively.

3. Ethics. the doctrine that moral values and duties can be perceived directly. Also called intuitivism. —intuitionalist, intuitionist, n.

maieutics

the method used by Socrates in bringing forth knowledge through questions and insistence upon close and logical reasoning. —maieutic, adj.

mentalism

the doctrine that objects of knowledge have no existence except in themindof theperceiver. —mentalist, n. —mentalistic, adj.

misology

a hatred of reason, reasoning, and knowledge. —misologist, n.

monism

Epistemology. a theory that the object and datum of cognition are identical.

omniscience

1. universal or inflnite knowledge.

2. the state of being all-knowing. Also Obsolete, omniscious. —omniscient, adj.

organon

a method or means for communicating knowledge or for philosophical inquiry.

pansophism

1. the possession of universal knowledge. Cf. pansophy.

2. the claim to such enlightenment. —pansophist, n. —pansophistical, adj.

pansophy

1. a universal wisdom or encyclopedie learning.

2. a system of universal knowledge; pantology. —pansophic, adj.

pantology

a systematic survey of all branches of knowledge. —pantologist, n. —pantologic, pantological, adj.

perceptionism

the doctrine that asserts knowledge as relative to sensory perception. —perceptionist, n.

philonoist

1. Rare. a lover of learning.

2. (cap.) an advocate of Philonism. Also spelled Philonist.

plerophory

a state or quality of full confidence or absolute certainty.

polyhistor

a person of exceptionally wide knowledge; polymath. —polyhistoric, adj.

polymathy

the possession of learning in many fields. —polymath, n., adj.

presentationism

the theory that perception gives the mind an immediate cognition of an object. —presentationalist, presentationist, n.

quadrivium

in the Middle Ages, one of the two divisions of the seven liberal arts, comprising arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. See also trivium.

savant

a scholar or person of great learning.

sciolism

a superficial knowledge, especially when pretentiously revealed. —sciolist, n. —sciolistic, sciolous, adj.

sciosophy

a supposed knowledge of natura! and supernatural forces, usually based upon tradition rather than ascertained fact, as astrology and phrenology. —sciosophist, n.

sematology

the theory of the use of signs, especially words, in their relation to knowledge and cognition.

semiotics

a theory of symbology that embraces pragmatics and linguistics. —semiotic, adj.

specialism

1. a devotion or restriction to a particular pursuit, branch of study, etc.

2. a field of specialization within a science or area of knowledge, as otology within medicine. —specialist, n. —specialistic, adj.

technography

the study and description of arts and sciences from the point of view of their historical development, geographical, and ethnic distribution.

telegnosis

clairvoyance or other occult or supernatural knowledge.

trivia

unimportant, trifling things or details, especially obscure and useless knowledge. —trivial, adj.

trivium

in the Middle Ages, one of the two divisions of the seven liberal arts, comprising logic, grammar, and rhetoric. See also quadrivium.