epistemic crisis

noun

A profound disruption in the shared frameworks for knowledge production, validation, and dissemination, where established epistemic regimes, methodologies, and concensus mechanisms fail, leading to widespread uncertainty regarding truth or reality.

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Meanings

nounepistemic crisis (plural epistemic crises)

plural epistemic crises

  1. A profound disruption in the shared frameworks for knowledge production, validation, and dissemination, where established epistemic regimes, methodologies, and concensus mechanisms fail, leading to widespread uncertainty regarding truth or reality.
  2. Any other crisis of epistemics or epistemology, such as a replication crisis.
Cite this entry
APA

epistemic crisis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic%20crisis

MLA

“epistemic crisis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic%20crisis. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “epistemic crisis,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic%20crisis.

Source: epistemic crisis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.