Epistemic Relativism in Agent Societies: A Preliminary Semantic Model

Epistemic relativism is the term used to denote the fact that knowledge established in a society (or part of a society) is specific to that society (or part of the society) and, thus, possibly different from knowledge established in any other society (or part of the society). Epistemic relativism results from the fact that knowledge is socially constructed, in a historically conditioned way. This paper makes use of an adaptation of the semantics of the epistemic operator K, proposed by Hintikka, to formulate a preliminary semantic model of the condition of epistemic relativism in agent societies. The paper points out the need for a relativist perspective in the study of knowledge in agent societies. The preliminary semantical model is presented and its possible limitations discussed.