Epistemological Framework
A foundational structure of assumptions, concepts, standards, and practices that shapes how knowledge is produced, validated, and understood within a particular context. An epistemological framework determines what counts as evidence, what methods are legitimate, what sources are credible, and what constitutes a valid explanation. It's the invisible architecture of knowing—the set of rules, often unstated, that governs how a community decides what it knows. Different cultures, disciplines, and historical periods operate within different epistemological frameworks. A scientist's framework values empirical evidence and peer review; a theologian's framework values scripture and tradition; an indigenous knowledge system values oral transmission and lived experience. None is simply "right" or "wrong"; they're different frameworks for different purposes. Understanding epistemological frameworks is essential for recognizing why people with different backgrounds often talk past each other—they're operating from different assumptions about what knowledge even is.
Example: "They argued for hours about whether the phenomenon was real. He demanded empirical evidence; she offered ancestral testimony. Neither could convince the other because they were operating from different epistemological frameworks—different assumptions about what counts as knowledge, what sources are credible, what evidence means. The framework itself was the barrier, not the evidence."
Epistemological Framework by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 9, 2026
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