FUZZY EPISTEMOLOGY: SCIENTIFIC-THEORETICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL-METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

The theory of fuzzy sets (FST) and the concept of fuzzy logic (FSL) formed on the basis of this theory, by making the assessment of both objective and subjective uncertainty its subject, also conditioned the emergence of a new cognitive paradigm. The uncertainty, which was accepted in the ontological aspect, and the methodology for its assessment gradually formed a new fuzzy thinking model at the epistemological level. The wideranging application of fuzzy models, whose mathematical structure is the FST theory and whose logical system is the FSL concept, to various fields, also resulted in the emergence of a new cognitive theory, fuzzy epistemology. Since it is important for our research in this research, the similarities and differences of various epistemological paradigms were first considered in a logical manner. Referring to this historical-philosophical excursion, in the context of a comparative analysis of fuzzy epistemology with other epistemological paradigms, the scientific-theoretical and philosophical-methodological foundations of a new cognitive concept - a mathematical epistemic system - are given. The research work is also characterized by the identification of ontological, methodological and functional features that express the specificity of this cognitive system.