Epistemology of Wikipedia

Philosophical area of study

Epistemology is a major branch of philosophy and is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. The epistemology of Wikipedia has been a subject of interest from the earliest days of its existence.[citation needed]

Early analysis related the epistemology of Wikipedia to social epistemology. Other realms of epistemological research, such as the epistemology of testimony and epistemic value theory, have been studied with reference to Wikipedia.[1]: 6

More recent analysis suggests that the epistemology of Wikipedia derives from the combined epistemic values of wikis and of encyclopedias. Jankowski[2] cites Ruth and Houghton[3] who define the epistemic values of wikis as:

* self-identification
* collaboration
* co-construction
* cooperation
* trust in the community
* constructionism

Jankowski suggests that determination of the epistemic values of encyclopedias is more problematic, requiring genre analysis.[2] This analysis revealed that encyclopedias value:

* utility
* systematic organization
* authority
* trust in experts
* consistency

Fallis[1] previously identified the specific epistemic virtues of Wikipedia as

* power
* speed
* fecundity

## References

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1. ^ a b Fallis, Don (2008). "Toward an Epistemology of Wikipedia". Social Science Research Network. SSRN 1263781.
2. ^ a b Jankowski, Steve (2013). Wikipedia and Encyclopaedism: A genre analysis of epistemological values (PDF) (M.A. thesis). See also Pierre Lévy blog post and comments, 27 May 2013.
3. ^ Ruth, Alison L.; Houghton, Luke (2009). "The wiki way of learning". Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 25 (2): 135–152\. doi:10.14742/ajet.1147.