Epistemological Literalism

The naive belief that language can directly capture reality—that words mean what they mean, that concepts correspond to things, that truth is a matter of matching statements to world. Epistemological Literalism ignores the mediated, constructed, interpretive nature of all knowing. It's the epistemology of the confident, the unreflective, the certain. It feels like common sense but is actually a sophisticated philosophical position that most of philosophy has spent centuries dismantling.

"Just tell me the truth, directly, no interpretation." Epistemological Literalism: as if truth came pre-packaged in language, as if words weren't interpretations, as if you could escape meaning-making. There is no direct—only mediated. Grow up."

Epistemological Literalism by Abzugal February 23, 2026