'Who claims truth, truth abandons': epistemological anarchism in Pynchon's Mason & Dixon

Daniel Emerson Lyew
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:51:53 PDT

This paper introduces and uses Paul Feyerabend’s Epistemological Anarchism (EA) as an interpretive lens through which to read key passages in Thomas Pynchon’s 1997 novel Mason & Dixon. In particular, this paper uses EA to provide a novel and distinct way of understanding what Brian McHale terms the novel’s subjunctivity, or spaces of possibility. I use EA as a new framework for understanding the epistemological, ontological, and humanitarian/ethical dimensions of the novel’s subjunctive spaces, and hint at ways in which EA might be used in Pynchon’s other novels.