James Frederick Ferrier

James Frederick Ferrier (16 June 1808 – 11 June 1864) was a Scottish metaphysical writer and philosopher. He introduced the word *epistemology* in philosophical English, as well as coining agnoiology for the study of ignorance. Ferrier was born in Edinburgh and educated at the Royal High School, the University of Edinburgh, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He also studied German philosophy in Heidelberg. He served as a professor of civil history at Edinburgh University and later as a professor of moral philosophy and political economy at the University of St Andrews, where he remained until his death. His philosophical work focused on the theory of knowing and being, with key publications including 'An Introduction to the Philosophy of Consciousness' and 'Institutes of Metaphysic'.