Epistemisch

Epistemisch is a German adjective used to describe matters related to knowledge, justified belief, or the status of information. It corresponds to the English term epistemic and is widely used in philosophy, linguistics, and related disciplines to distinguish knowledge-related phenomena from other kinds of claims.

Etymology: The term derives from epistemology, the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge and justification. It ultimately goes back to Greek epistēmē, "knowledge," and has been integrated into German academic vocabulary.

In philosophy, epistemische considerations address what counts as knowledge, how beliefs are justified, and how skepticism is assessed. The term helps differentiate claims about evidence from claims about mere opinion.

In linguistics, epistemic modality refers to the speaker's assessment of a proposition's truth without asserting it as fact. German scholarship often uses expressions like epistemische Modallität or epistemische Sicherheit in this context.

In logic and artificial intelligence, epistemic logic models the knowledge and beliefs of agents, using operators such as K for "knows" (and related operators for belief). This framework supports analysis of information flow in groups and systems.

Related concepts include epistemology, epistemic logic, and epistemic modality.