ABSTRACT
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge; “theory of knowledge” is what “epistemology” means. But in practice it is many theories of knowledge, there being little agreement among epistemologists as to which theories to believe. A list of cases of supposed knowledge is not an explanation, an understanding, of knowledge. And epistemology's aim is to explain and understand knowledge, to theorize about it. By providing data to study, a list of cases of supposed knowledge can be part of an epistemological effort, a first step toward doing epistemology. Epistemology could have a point for us, if only because its application to both teachers and students—they and their knowledge—can have a point. The puzzling thing about that reply is that, ironically, if they want to avoid doing epistemology, the response is not available to them. It is not true when used by them.
