Epistron is my most general term for a knowledge product, device or system made to satisfy our knowledge desires. Tablets, theorems, universities and search engines are all epistrons. I study them as designed objects.
How the word moved
I coined it in July 2018 along with epistronics, the study of epistrons, and the slogan that design will replace logic as philosophy's organizing principle in this century. Logic did that job from the late nineteenth century on. I think its shift is over.
In my words
"Design will be the universal organizing principle of philosophy in the 21st century, replacing logic which performed that function from the late nineteenth century ..."
from Epistrons: The Design of Knowledge, 20 Jul 2018
"Epistron is the most general term for a knowledge product, device or system that’s been created to satisfy our knowledge desires."
from Epistrons: The Design of Knowledge, 20 Jul 2018
Related
- Inherited from Christopher Alexander - He was on my knowledge by design reading list.
- Related Design of Philosophy - That's where design first became the organizing principle.
- Related Epistry - Both are about knowledge by design.
Still open
I asked whether we could fit all, or much, of the forms of knowledge into one comprehensive design system. My short answer was no. I still think that's right, and I still haven't worked out what follows from it.