Epistemology
<p><b>Epistemology</b> (<a title="Listen" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/En-uk-epistemology.ogg"><img src="/9e9364fd-e2cb-5ce2-9670-111cb3ac3dd7.png"/></a><sup><a title="File:En-uk-epistemology.ogg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-uk-epistemology.ogg">i</a></sup><a title="Help:IPA for English" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English">/</a><a title="Help:IPA for English" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key">ɨˌpɪstɨˈmɒlədʒi</a><a title="Help:IPA for English" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English">/</a> from <a title="Greek language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language">Greek</a> <a title="wikt:ἐπιστήμη" class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%90%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B7">ἐπιστήμη</a><i>, epistēmē</i>, meaning "knowledge, understanding", and <a title="wikt:λόγος" class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%82">λόγος</a><i>, <a title="Logos" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos">logos</a></i>, meaning "study of") is the branch of <a title="Philosophy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy">philosophy</a> concerned with the nature and scope of <a title="Knowledge" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge">knowledge</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> and is also referred to as "theory of knowledge". It questions what knowledge is and how it can be acquired, and the extent to which knowledge pertinent to any given subject or entity can be acquired.
Much of the debate in this field has focused on the <a title="Philosophical analysis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_analysis">philosophical analysis</a> of the nature of knowledge and how it relates to connected notions such as <a title="Truth" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth">truth</a>, <a title="Belief" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief">belief</a>, and <a title="Theory of justification" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_justification">justification</a>.
The term "epistemology" was introduced by the Scottish philosopher <a title="James Frederick Ferrier" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frederick_Ferrier">James Frederick Ferrier</a> (1808–1864).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#cite_note-3">[</a></sup>
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