Knowledge

Knowledge is information of which a person, organization or other entity is aware. Knowledge is gained either by experience, learning and perception or through association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject, potentially with the ability to use it for a specific purpose.

The unreliability of memory limits the certainty of knowledge about the past, while unpredictability of events yet to occur limits the certainty of knowledge about the future. Epistemology is the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge.

Defining knowledge

The definition of knowledge is still a live debate for philosophers. In order for there to be knowledge, according to most thinkers, at least three criteria must be fulfilled. A thought must be justified, true, and believed. Some claim that these conditions are not sufficient, as Gettier case examples allegedly demonstrate. There are a number of alternatives proposed, including Robert Nozick's arguments for requirement that knowledge 'tracks the truth' and Simon Blackburn's additional requirement that we do not want to say that those who meet any of these conditions 'through a defect, flaw, or failure' have knowledge. Richard Kirkham suggests that our definition of knowledge needs to require that the believer's evidence is such that it logically necessitates the truth of the belief.

Knowledge management

Knowledge management seeks to understand the way in which knowledge is used and traded within organisations and treats knowledge as self-referential and recursive. This recursion means that the definition of knowledge is in a state of flux. Knowledge management treats knowledge as a form of information which is impregnated with context based on experience. Information is data which causes a difference to an observer because of its observer-specific relevance. Data can be observed, but does not need to be. In this sense, knowledge consists of information augmented by intentionality (or direction). This conception aligns with the DIKW model, which places data, information, knowledge and wisdom into an increasingly useful pyramid.

Situated knowledge

Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a particular situation. Imagine two very similar breeds of mushroom, which grow on either side of a mountain, one nutritious, one poisonous. Relying on knowledge from one side of an ecological boundary, after crossing to the other, may lead to starving rather than eating perfectly healthy food near at hand, or to poisoning oneself by mistake.

Some methods of generating knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience, tend to create highly situational knowledge. One of the main benefits of the scientific method is that the theories it generates are much less situational than knowledge gained by other methods.

Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or traditions. Critics of cultural imperialism argue that the rise of a global monoculture causes a loss of local knowledge.

Sociology of knowledge

Main articles: Sociology of knowledge and Sociology of scientific knowledge

Aspects of knowledge exhibit a social character. For instance, knowledge is a form of social capital. Sociology of knowledge examines the way in which Society and knowledge interact.

Through experience, observation, and inference, individuals and cultures gain knowledge. The spread of this knowledge is examined by diffusion. Diffusion of innovations theory explores the factors that lead people to become aware, try, and adopt new ideas and practices — this can help to explain development of knowledge.

Other definitions

• Knowledge is "information combined with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection. It is a high-value form of information that is ready to apply to decisions and actions." T. Davenport et al., 1998

• "Explicit or codified knowledge refers to knowledge that is transmittable in formal, systematic language. On the other hand, tacit knowledge has a personal quality, which makes it hard to formalize and communicate." I. Nonaka, 1994.

• "knowledge as the human expertise stored in a person’s mind, gained through experience, and interaction with the person’s environment." Sunasee and Sewery, 2002.

• "Knowledge is a physical, mental or electronic record of relationships believed to exist between real or imaginary entities, forces and phenomena." Worthington, 2005.

• "the insights, understandings, and practical know-how that we all possess – is a fundamental resource that allows us to function intelligently." Wiig, 1996.

• "knowledge is information evaluated and organized by the human mind so that it can be used purposefully, e.g., conclusions or explanations." Rousa, 2002.

There are numerous type of knowledge divided according to its functions and its carrier systems (for example, management knowledge, manager knowledge).

See also

• Analytic proposition/Synthetic proposition
• A priori/A posteriori
• Belief
• Chabad
• DIKW
• Epistemology
• Institutional knowledge
• Knowledge creation
• Knowledge engineering
• Knowledge management
• Knowledge relativity
• Knowledge representation
• Procedural knowledge
• Meta-knowledge
• Philosophical skepticism
• Propositional knowledge
• Truth

External links

• Theory of Knowledge: The Gettier problem
• The Duality of Knowledge
• Philosophy of Knowledge Glossary
• Meta-Ontological Assumptions: Information, Preferences and Knowledge, ENEA Research Agency
• Communication technology and the evolution of knowledge: From pre-history to the information age
• Wharton Knowledge Project - aimed to offer free access to course materials for students, teachers, and self-learners.
• Cybernetics & Human Knowing - A Journal of Second Order Cybernetics, Autopoiesis & Cyber-Semiotics
• The Incommensurability of Scientific and Poetic Knowledge

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