#3: Epistemology
Today I want to talk to you about epistemology.
Coming from the Greek word epistēmē, or knowledge, epistemology is the study of how we know something. It is the study of the difference between justified belief from opinion. A major subfield of philosophy, it’s the process by which we investigate how someone arrived at a certain conclusion, and it could not be more relevant to our times.
You might think epistemology is the stuff of philosophy classrooms. In fact, a lot of epistemology is also explored in anthropology, sociology, and the humanities. Without an integrated look at understanding—that which creates our worldview and actions—we are bound to be victims of our unconscious minds rather than conscious agents of change.
Let's have a look.
Four Paths to Knowledge
In college, my professors in the anthropology department would ask: “how do you know (HDUK)?”
They were constantly coming back to this phrase to get us to question the form and structure of any given system and help us to check our biases and reasoning. My investigations suggested that there are many ways we can gain knowledge. These include:
Reason. The movement of the 17th and 18th centuries known as the European Enlightenment created a worldview that gained wide ascent in the West. Through using and celebrating the power of reason, many were able to free themselves from the constraints of conventional religion and use reason and logic to help liberate humanity. Indeed, it created dramatic advances in human health and happiness for many people, and many of the modern comforts people have today are the result of this form of knowing.
Experience. This form of knowledge is only now emerging as we are seeing deeper reckonings around diversity, equity, and inclusion. European-descended people enacting in ways that are oppressive are often asking “but how do you know?” from the lens of reason only. This is a unique, culturally-specific gaslighting response stemming from the traumatic history of European violence and colonization. But increasingly we are seeing how the lived experiences of historically excluded people, including people of color, women, and transgender people, are gaining validity as a legitimate form of knowledge.
Intuition. Intuition is a lost art in a mechanized age, and many carriers of intuition, especially many women, have grown up in systems that often taught them to ignore or suppress their intuition as a form of knowing. In The Politics of Trauma, Staci Haines briefly points to intuition as a form of knowing, and anyone who has spent enough time in the world of spirituality and science or cultural history recognizes that there are legitimate bases for this form of knowing. A lot of my work centers around using intuition as a way to recognize and trust more deeply felt forms of knowledge than reason alone can supply.
Revelation. Revelation is a knowledge form that is both old and new. The Bible, for example, might be considered a work that was inspired by revelation. At the same time, in modern society, reason is God, and as Nietzsche said in the late 1800s, “God is dead.” Without some space to be connected with and inspired by the Divine, however the Divine may be understood, it may be fair to say that our capacities for knowledge are limited and that connecting with the infinite connects us to deeper, wider, and more existential sources of knowledge that help us experience awareness or unity consciousness.
In the modern North American context, these additional knowledge forms are denied and subjugated in the name of power. That is why when we work with difficult people, one of the biggest blocks has to do with the other person's theory of knowledge: how they see the world and their relationship with new ways of understanding.
The Takeaway
The world today is filled with contested knowledges.
In a way, that’s a good thing: forms of knowledge that have been dominant for too long are now being challenged by other ways of knowing, and competition is entering the scene in the form of decolonizing perspectives, integrative perspectives, liberation perspectives, and revelation-based perspectives. This often helps to create a marketplace of ideas with better choices.
At the same time, it’s common to struggle or grapple with all of these competing ideas and unify them within oneself. It’s also a common feature of the culture wars we see today, where knowledges try to compete for dominance when in reality, it’s possible to blend, integrate, synthesize, and harmonize them as we evolve. The truth is, no side can truly “win” at the expense of the others.
I believe that we can still be activists, fighting for the things we love while recognizing that everyone carries a piece of the whole. So when someone is trying to project and dominate with their particular discourse, and it’s creating more harm than good, it might be helpful to dive into a genuine inquiry and ask them:
How do you know?
News and Resources
There have been small but meaningful changes afoot at SpokenGen.
(1) We’ve opened up two new pages on our website. The first is our shop page, which features products for the evolutionary leader. We've also released our very first training on an archetypal force named Eris, who’s responsible for a lot of the evolution happening on our planet. If you're an activist, innovator, leader, or change agent, I strongly suggest learning more about who she is and how she works.
(2) The second is our ask a question page. As we continue bringing you content to support your process, we want to answer your real questions and concerns, so we’ve launched a Q&A page. Think of it as an “ask me anything” combined with the convenience of an asynchronous workflow that can help you to get your questions answered and help the community to learn and grow. There’s no limitation on the topics right now, and you can literally ask me about anything. I encourage you to make good use of it.
(3) We’ve also done a soft reopening of our source code sessions after a long hiatus. We’re still situating it within the SpokenGen ecosystem, but if you’ve been waiting to schedule and get existential support, we’re back online now, and our books are open. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this insightful relational process.
That’s all for now. See you in the next issue.
Trust yourselves,
Rayner
This post contains affiliate links. On The Politics of Trauma: This is a great book on the intersection of healing, trauma, and social change. If you purchase from Bookshop.org, a certified B Corporation that supports independent bookstores, I make a small 10% commission. If you purchase it, I appreciate it!
