Dominant Frames for Knowledge

Focus

Intersections of “theories of knowledge/knowing” and discourses on learning

Principal Metaphors

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Synopsis

Perhaps the least contentious assertion that might be made about “learning” is that the phenomenon has something to do with changes to “knowledge” or “knowing” – and, so, how knowledge and knowing are interpreted have profound implications for all aspects of education. The purpose of this cluster, then, is to foreground and contrast key metaphors of knowledge and knowing, along with their major consequences for learning and teaching.

Commentary

While focused on matters of knowledge (i.e., Epistemology), each of the columns in the above chart might also be interpreted as anchored to a particular perspective on being and reality – that is, to an ...

  • Cosmology – any systematic account of the origin, structure, and order of the universe. Cosmology has two major intellectual lineages: philosophical/religious and scientific. Associated constructs include:
    • Cosmovision – an integrated worldview that links cosmology, Ontology, Epistemology, ethics, land, and community into a coherent way of living. Cosmovision is widely used in Indigenous and Latin American scholarship to describe relational, land-based understandings of reality.
  • Ontology – variously defined, but most often used in reference to perspectives on the nature of being and reality. Uses of term on this site include:
  • Ontological Theories (Metaphysical Theories of Reality) – efforts to explain what fundamentally exists and how different kinds of being relate, typically by attempting to outline the basic structure of reality – for example, whether everything is one substance (Monism), two (Dualism), or many (Pluralism):
    • Dualism – the view that reality consists of two fundamentally distinct kinds of substance or properties – typically mind and matter, or mental and physical – each irreducible to the other. Dualism contrasts with Monism (see below) and Pluralism (see below). The following are among the Dualisms defined and discussed elsewhere on this site:
    • Monism – an umbrella term that can be applied to any perspective that asserts a fundamental unity or oneness – for example, that all matter arises from a single sort of substance, that all reality is a single organic whole, or that all existence can be traced to a single source. Monism contrasts with Dualism (see above) and Pluralism (see below). Types include:
      • Idealistic Monism – the perspective that there is a single substance to reality, and that substance is mind (or spirit)
      • Multi-Aspect Monism (Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, 2010s) – a theological-philosophical view holding that reality is unified (monistic) but expressed through multiple irreducible aspects – physical, mental, spiritual, social, and divine.
      • Natural Monism – the perspective that there is a single substance to reality, and that substance is material (see Materialisms)
      • Neutral Monism (William James, Bertrand Russell, 1910s) – the perspective that there is a single substance to reality that is neither physical (of the body) nor mental (of the mind). Examples of Neutral Monism include:
        • Radical Empiricism (William James, early 1900s) – the position that reality consists of pure experience
    • Pluralism – the view that reality consists of many fundamentally distinct kinds. Pluralism contrasts with Monism(see above) and Dualism (see above). The following are among the Pluralisms defined and discussed elsewhere on this site:
      • Epistemological Pluralism (Epistemic Pluralism) (Epistemology)
      • Logical Pluralism (Rationalism)
      • Pluridisciplinarity (Integral Methodological Pluralism; Methodological Pluralism) (Epistemology)
      • Scientific Pluralism (Empiricism)
  • Onto-Epistemology (Ontoepistemology) – any framework that embraces the suggestion that “what is” (i.e., the realm of Ontology) cannot be considered in distinction from “what is known” (i.e., Epistemology).  Subdiscourses include:
    • Ethico-Onto-Epistem-ology (Karen Barad, 2000s) – extending the discourse of Agential Realism (under Realism), the suggestion that one’s knowing and being are always and already matters of ethical accountability
    • Multimodal Onto-Epistemology (2010s) – an integrated philosophical framework that examines how different modes of knowledge (such as visual, auditory, and textual) shape and are shaped by the realities of existence, emphasizing the interdependence of being and knowing across various forms of expression​. In education, Multimodal Onto-Epistemology is sometimes used to foreground the need for flexible, holistic approaches to understand complex phenomena.

See Idealism, Objectivity, Subjectivity, Intersubjectivity, and Interobjectivity.

Subdiscourses:

  • Cosmology
  • Cosmovision
  • Dualism
  • Ethico-Onto-Epistem-ology
  • Idealistic Monism
  • Monism
  • Multi-Aspect Monism
  • Multimodal Onto-Epistemology
  • Natural Monism
  • Neutral Monism
  • Onto-Epistemology (Ontoepistemology)
  • Ontological Theories (Metaphysical Theories of Reality)
  • Ontology
  • Pluralism
  • Radical Empiricism


Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2026). “Dominant Frames for Knowledge” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.


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