Agnoiology (from the Greek ἀγνοέω, meaning ignorance) is the theoretical study of the quality and conditions of ignorance, and in particular of what can truly be considered "unknowable" (as distinct from "unknown"). The term was coined by
James Frederick Ferrier, in his ''Institutes of Metaphysic'' (1854), as a foil to the theory of knowledge, or
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epi ...
.
[Roy Dilley, "The Construction of Ethnographic Knowledge in a Colonial Context", in ''Ways of Knowing: Anthropological Approaches to Crafting Experience and Knowledge'', edited by Mark Harris (New York and Oxford, 2007), pp. 139-140.]
References
{{epistemology
Epistemology