The Four Ways of Knowing: Revising the 4P Model of Knowing Through a Non-dual and Reflexive Perspective

The discipline of epistemology seeks to delineate the diverse forms of knowledge that inform our lives, from the concrete, embodied experiences that shape our everyday perceptions to the abstract, theoretical constructs that drive scientific inquiry. Cognitive science uniquely extends this project by exploring the human and non-human minds that afford knowing and understanding. Building on this legacy, Vervaeke and Mastropietro's 4P model of knowing integrates four interrelated ways of knowing: propositional, procedural, perspectival, and participatory, into a unified, non-representational, and process-oriented framework. In this paper, we first provide an integrated overview of what we term the classical 4P model by exploring the ways of knowing constituting it, introducing the relationship of asymmetric dependence between the four ways of knowing, and situating the model within the pragmatic concerns that motivated its development. We then offer a critique of this model informed by enactive cognitive science and insights from the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra traditions of Buddhist epistemology. Finally, we revise the classical 4P model by clarifying and refining the relationships among the four ways of knowing through a non-dual and reflexive treatment, and discuss how this revised framework can inform fields as diverse as education, psychotherapy, and religious and contemplative pedagogy, demonstrating its potential for addressing contemporary challenges.