Skip to main content
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
The application of contextualism to epistemology—the view that knowledge attributions are context-dependent, that what counts as knowing varies with the standards of the context. Epistemological Contextualism argues that "knows" is a context-sensitive term: in a low-stakes context, you might know; in a high-stakes context, you might not. The same evidence, the same belief, the same person—different contexts, different knowledge claims. This doesn't make knowledge arbitrary; it makes knowledge sensitive to what's at stake, to what counts as good enough. Epistemological Contextualism is the philosophy of pragmatic epistemology, of the recognition that knowledge is always knowledge-for-some-purpose.
Text fits
Save
Cancel