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 is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
.
[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