To those who havenât studied philosophy, epistemics broadly refers to the idea of knowledge itself, or the study of how we gain knowledge, sort out good from bad, etc.
I just want to point out that I have a degree in philosophy and have never heard the word âepistemicsâ used in the context of academic philosophy. The word used has always been either epistemology or epistemic as adjective in front of a noun (never on its own, always used as an adjective, not a noun, and certainly never pluralized).
From what I can tell, âepistemicsâ seems to be weird EA Forum/âLessWrong jargon. Not sure how or why this came about, since this is not obscure philosophy knowledge, nor is it hard to look up.
If you Google âepistemicsâ philosophy, you get 1) sources like Wikipedia that talk about epistemology, not âepistemicsâ, 2) a post from the EA Forum and a page from the Forethought Foundation, which is an effective altruist organization, 3) some unrelated, miscellaneous stuff (i.e. neither EA-related or academic philosophy-related), and 4) a few genuine but fairly obscure uses of the word âepistemicsâ in an academic philosophy context. This confirms that the term is rarely used in academic philosophy.
I also donât know what people in EA mean when they say âepistemicsâ. I think they probably mean something like epistemic practices, but I actually donât know for sure.
I would discourage the use of the term âepistemicsâ, particularly as its meaning is unclear, and would advocate for a replacement such as epistemology or epistemic practices (or whatever you like, but not âepistemicsâ).
I just want to point out that I have a degree in philosophy and have never heard the word âepistemicsâ used in the context of academic philosophy. The word used has always been either epistemology or epistemic as adjective in front of a noun (never on its own, always used as an adjective, not a noun, and certainly never pluralized).
From what I can tell, âepistemicsâ seems to be weird EA Forum/âLessWrong jargon. Not sure how or why this came about, since this is not obscure philosophy knowledge, nor is it hard to look up.
If you Google âepistemicsâ philosophy, you get 1) sources like Wikipedia that talk about epistemology, not âepistemicsâ, 2) a post from the EA Forum and a page from the Forethought Foundation, which is an effective altruist organization, 3) some unrelated, miscellaneous stuff (i.e. neither EA-related or academic philosophy-related), and 4) a few genuine but fairly obscure uses of the word âepistemicsâ in an academic philosophy context. This confirms that the term is rarely used in academic philosophy.
I also donât know what people in EA mean when they say âepistemicsâ. I think they probably mean something like epistemic practices, but I actually donât know for sure.
I would discourage the use of the term âepistemicsâ, particularly as its meaning is unclear, and would advocate for a replacement such as epistemology or epistemic practices (or whatever you like, but not âepistemicsâ).