Epistemology, from the Greek word Episteme, meaning knowledge or science, is a branch of philosophy that deals with human knowledge and cognition. It deals with the nature of knowledge, its types, sources, characteristics, and limitations. The term refers to the conditions under which knowledge can be created or presented, regardless of the individual's personal beliefs.
Polanyi, a British-Hungarian mathematician defined epistemology in 1962 as: "What we know about knowledge."
According to him, the epistemological axis consists of two types of knowledge: tacit knowledge and articulated knowledge (which later became known as explicit knowledge), as described in the following matrix:
Know | Don’t know | |
Know | Knowledge You Know You Know (Explicit Knowledge) | Knowledge You Know You Don't Know |
Don’t know | Knowledge You Don't Know You Know (tactic Knowledge) | Knowledge You Don't Know You Don't Know (Unknown Gaps) |
Nonaka and Takeuchi expanded their exploration of epistemology in their 1995 book "The Knowledge Creating Company." In this book, they describe two epistemological perspectives—Western and Japanese. They define a model for knowledge development based on Japanese culture, which relies on one of its axes, the transition between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, and vice versa.
Epistemology is important in everyday knowledge management processes and should be considered when:
Developing knowledge: One can rely on Nonaka and Takeuchi's concept of transitions (tacit <-> explicit) that aid in knowledge development.
Sharing knowledge: Solutions must be provided for knowledge while considering all four quadrants, with tools appropriate for each. For example, the Push methodology helps us acquire knowledge that we don't know we don't know (bottom left quadrant), while job transfer solutions emphasize the two right quadrants, etc.
The bottom line is that this concept has roots in ancient philosophy but has applications in today's business world and knowledge management.
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