different between epistemological vs existential

English

Etymology

epistemology +? -ical

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p?st?m??l?d???k?l/

Adjective

epistemological (comparative more epistemological, superlative most epistemological)

1. Of or pertaining to epistemology or theory of knowledge, as a field of study.
   • 1898, E. A. Read, "Review of Vergleich der dogmatischen Systeme von R. A. Lipsius und A. Ritschl," The American Journal of Theology, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 190,

     The epistemological position of Ritschl, in our author's exposition of it, is little more than idealistic rationalism.

   • 1991, Walt Wolfram, "The Linguistic Variable: Fact and Fantasy," American Speech, vol. 66, no. 1, p. 31,

     My conclusion dovetails with Fasold's conclusion, which is based on a quite different, more epistemological kind of argument.

2. Of or pertaining to knowing or cognizing, as a mental activity.
   • 1969, Sandra B. Rosenthal, "The 'World' of C. I. Lewis," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 29, no. 4, p. 590,

     The reality which thus emerges is the outcome of the epistemological process in which the mind conceptually structures a given content.

Usage notes

Many philosophers consider the standard sense of "epistemological" to be "of or pertaining to epistemology" and reserve the term "epistemic" for the sense "of or pertaining to knowing or cognizing."

Related terms

Translations

English

Etymology

Late Latin existentialis, from existentia.

Adjective

existential (not comparable)

1. Of, or relating to existence.
2. Concerning the very existence of, especially with regard to extinction.
3. Based on experience; empirical.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I:

     In recent books on logic, distinction is made between two orders of inquiry concerning anything. First, what is the nature of it? how did it come about? what is its constitution, origin, and history? And second, What is its importance, meaning, or significance, now that it is once here? The answer to the one question is given in an existential judgment or proposition. The answer to the other is a proposition of value, what the Germans call a Werthurtheil ...

4. (philosophy) Of, or relating to existentialism.
5. (linguistics) Relating to part of a clause that indicates existence, e.g. "there is".

Antonyms

• non-phenomenal
• noumenal
• non-metaphysical

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

existential (plural existentials)

1. (linguistics) Ellipsis of existential clause
   • 2014, Silvia Luraghi, Tuomas Huumo, Partitive Cases and Related Categories, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG (?ISBN), page 153:

     We argue that existentials form a radial category, with a prototype and less canonical instances, where the prototype is clearly definable but the actual borderline between existentials and other clause types is fuzzy.

2. (programming) Ellipsis of existential type

   Coordinate term: generic

Further reading

• "existential" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 123.

References