In the history of philosophy, epistemology emerges as the one of the most dominant branches in this field of study. The dominance of epistemology in modern thought and ideology is reflected in humanity's knowledge-seeking and truth-discovery methods. At present, we are influenced and educated to learn about definitions, and have subsisted to the thesis of correspondence theory of truth, which posits that the mind mirrors external reality. In effect, epistemology believes that knowledge and truth is reflected on the individual's external reality and experience, projected in the mind to influence his/her way of thinking and increasing knowledge stored in the individual's mind.

             Through epistemology, every field of study has its own set of concepts, definitions, and descriptions, which are all products of the human mind reflecting reality. However, another branch of philosophy emerged in 19th century, which challenged the claim presented by epistemology-pragmatism. A relatively new branch of philosophy, pragmatism posits that all ideas and theories can be tested, and held as the individual's concept of the truth. What differentiated pragmatism from epistemology is that it does not subsist to the idea of absolute truths and absolute values. Pragmatism allows the human mind to explore its potential to think beyond what the individual perceives to be his/her capability, and the creation and testing of news ideas and concepts can potentially give birth to new knowledge, truth, and perhaps, reality.

             W. V. Quine and Richard Rorty are two of the primary proponents of pragmatism and critics of epistemology. W. V. Quine, who was known for his studies on the role that pragmatism plays in linguistic studies and language as applied in society, explicated the problematic nature of epistemology. In "Two Dogmas of Empiricism," he identified the dichotomy of analytic/synthetic truths and reductionism as empiricism's two dogmas.