episteme

American  

[ep-uh-stee-mee] / ˌɛp əˈsti mi /

noun

1. Philosophy. (in the works of 20th-century philosopher Foucault) the set of ideas and assumptions, often unconscious, that underlie and constrain what is accepted as knowledge in a particular period.

   Technology or social revolution creates a new episteme that then shapes the nature of scientific and social enterprise.

2. any organized or scientific system of knowledge based on a set of explicit principles; paradigm.

   The project explores the formation and operation of the episteme of patent law as currently practiced by lawyers.

---

Etymology

Origin of episteme

First recorded in 1840–45; from Greek epistḗmē “knowledge”