The sister concept to Scientific Pluralism, focused on the nature of knowledge itself. It asserts that there are multiple, equally valid "ways of knowing" and that no single epistemological framework (like empiricism or rationalism) gets to monopolize the title of "true knowledge." This pluralism validates knowledge from lived experience, tradition, narrative, and practical skill alongside experimental data, arguing that a person with a PhD and a master craftsperson with 40 years of hands-on experience both hold profound, yet different, forms of epistemic authority.
Example: Managing a forest. Epistemological Pluralism values the quantitative data from a forestry scientist's satellite survey AND the qualitative, experiential knowledge of an indigenous elder who reads animal behavior and plant health in ways the satellite cannot see. Dismissing either as "not real knowledge" leads to worse outcomes. It's recognizing that the elder's lifelong immersion is a sophisticated cognitive instrument, not a superstition.
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 6, 2026
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