In philosophy, the word episteme comes from Ancient Greek and means "knowledge" or "understanding." It is also spelled épistème in French. The term epistemology, which is the area of study in philosophy that looks at knowledge, comes from the word episteme.

History

Plato, following Xenophanes, compares episteme with doxa, which means common belief or opinion. Episteme is also different from techne, which refers to a craft or practical skill. In the Protagoras, Plato's Socrates explains that nous and episteme are necessary for prudence, or practical wisdom (phronesis).

Aristotle separated five types of thinking: technê, epistêmê, phronêsis, sophia, and nous. Technê means "craft" or "art," and epistêmê means "knowledge." In the Posterior Analytics, Aristotle describes epistêmê as knowledge of necessary truths, not truths that depend on circumstances. He uses geometry to show this, as it deals with unchanging facts. Aristotle also uses the word "cause" (aitia) in a broader way than modern thinking. For example, understanding how geometric rules lead to a conclusion about triangles helps explain why a triangle has certain properties. This shows that epistêmê deals with things that must be true, while technê and phronêsis deal with things that depend on situations.

Contemporary interpretations

For Foucault, an épistémè is the underlying way people think and act in a certain time period. It includes the basic ideas that shape knowledge and discussions during that time. In his book The Order of Things, Foucault uses the term épistémè to describe the non-temporal, basic knowledge that supports truth and discussions. This knowledge sets the conditions for how truth and discussions are possible during a specific time. In the book, Foucault explains épistémè as:

Later, Foucault wrote that multiple épistémès can exist and work together at the same time, as parts of different systems that connect power and knowledge. He studied how rules shape the way knowledge is created and used. He also said that while ideas can influence science, it must be shown how this happens. He argued that contradictions or lack of objectivity do not always mean ideas are at work. Jean Piaget compared Foucault’s use of épistémè to Thomas Kuhn’s idea of a paradigm.

In the 1970s, Foucault’s research changed from studying how knowledge is formed (archaeological method) to examining how power shapes knowledge (genealogical method). The archaeological method looked at written statements and archives (épistémès), while the genealogical method focused on how power and institutions influence knowledge. Foucault introduced the term dispositifs to include institutions, practices, and other non-discursive social aspects. As a key idea in his later work, dispositifs describe how power and knowledge are connected through a mix of tools, methods, and strategies. Examples include his study of the "dispositif disciplinaire" in Discipline and Punish and the "dispositif de sexualité" in The History of Sexuality. Foucault explained this shift from épistémès to dispositifs in a 1977 interview. He said that an épistémè is a type of dispositif that focuses on language, while a dispositif includes both language and non-language elements.