Who introduced the word epistemology into English?

Scottish metaphysical writer and philosopher James Frederick Ferrier introduced the word epistemology into philosophical English. He also coined the term agnoiology to study ignorance and what is truly unknowable as a counterpart to his work on knowledge. His major ideas on these subjects were presented in his 1854 work, Institutes of Metaphysic.

What we know

• James Frederick Ferrier introduced the word epistemology into philosophical English. [2, 3]
• James Frederick Ferrier coined the term agnoiology for the study of ignorance. [2, 5]
• Agnoiology studies the quality and conditions of ignorance, focusing on what can truly be considered unknowable as distinct from unknown. [5]
• Ferrier presented agnoiology in his 1854 book Institutes of Metaphysic as a foil to the theory of knowledge or epistemology. [5]

Where to go next

• how it workedWhat is agnoiology?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the main branches of epistemology?
• whenWhen did James Frederick Ferrier live?
• compared withHow does epistemology compare to metaphysics?
• how we knowWhat is the outline of epistemology?
• an unexpected connectionHow does the study of ignorance pair with epistemology?Ferrier created agnoiology specifically as a direct theoretical foil to epistemology to map out what is fundamentally unknowable.

Sources

• [1]James Frederick Ferrier (Wikidata Q3161092) · CC0 1.0
• [2]James Frederick Ferrier · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Outline of epistemology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Epistemology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Agnoiology · CC BY-SA 4.0