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 theory that the standards for knowing shift with context—that what counts as knowledge in one situation may not in another. In everyday life, "I know the car is parked outside" requires a glance. In a courtroom, it requires more. In a philosophy seminar, it requires Cartesian certainty. Epistemological Contextualism explains why knowledge attributions vary without relativism: the knowledge is the same; the standards for claiming it differ with context. Knowing is always knowing-for-a-purpose, in-a-situation, with-particular-stakes.
Text fits
Save
Cancel