Which philosophy focuses on the nature and origin of knowledge?

The philosophy that focuses on the nature and origin of knowledge is epistemology. This branch of philosophy investigates questions about belief, truth, and justification, exploring how knowledge is acquired, what it means to know something, and the limits of human understanding. Epistemology examines different sources of knowledge, such as perception, reason, memory, and testimony, and seeks to understand the criteria that deem a belief as justified or knowledge-worthy.

The other philosophical areas mentioned, while significant in their own right, concentrate on different aspects. Metaphysics deals with the fundamental nature of reality, exploring concepts such as existence, objects, and their properties. Ontology is a subfield of metaphysics that specifically addresses the nature of being and what entities exist in the universe. Phenomenology, on the other hand, focuses on the structures of experience and consciousness, studying phenomena as they appear to us from the first-person perspective. Each of these disciplines contributes uniquely to philosophy, but it is epistemology that directly confronts questions surrounding knowledge itself.