Knowledge

Knowledge is evaluated and organized information with implications of being true, justified, or believed. Knowledge is often distinguished from opinion. Opinion implies one's perspective without a claim for general or universal validity. 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.

Knowledge can be studied from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Epistemology, for example, is the philosophical study of the nature, origin, scope, method of and access to knowledge, sociology of knowledge studies social function and effects of knowledge, philosophy of religion generally includes defining the particular natures of religious knowledge, and knowledge management deals with principles and mechanisms of knowledge management as a part of information science.

Defining knowledge

See also: epistemology

We suppose ourselves to possess unqualified scientific knowledge of a thing, as opposed to knowing it in the accidental way in which the sophist knows, when we think that we know the cause on which the fact depends, as the cause of that fact and of no other, and, further, that the fact could not be other than it is. Now that scientific knowing is something of this sort is evident — witness both those who falsely claim it and those who actually possess it, since the former merely imagine themselves to be, while the latter are also actually, in the condition described. Consequently the proper object of unqualified scientific knowledge is something which cannot be other than it is. —Aristotle, Posterior Analytics (Book 1 Part 2)

The definition of knowledge is a matter of on-going debate among philosophers in the field of epistemology. The classical definition, described but not ultimately endorsed by, Plato, has it that in order for there to be knowledge at least three criteria must be fulfilled; that in order to count as knowledge, a statement 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 a 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 requires that the believer's evidence is such that it logically necessitates the truth of the belief.

In contrast to this approach, Wittgenstein observed, following Moore's paradox, that one can say "He believes it, but it isn't so", but not "He knows it, but it isn't so". He goes on to argue that these do not correspond to distinct mental states, but rather to distinct ways of talking about conviction. What is different here is not the mental state of the speaker, but the activity in which they are engaged. For example, on this account, to know that the kettle is boiling is not to be in a particular state of mind, but to perform a particular task with the statement that the kettle is boiling. Wittgenstein sought to bypass the difficulty of definition by looking to the way "knowledge" is used in natural languages. He saw knowledge as a case of a "family resemblance".

Wittgenstein presented the idea of "family resenblance" in Philosophical Investigations using the example of a game. The term "game" is used in multiple ways but there is no single defining characteristics common to all games. Just like members of the same family resemble each other, all games are more or less similar. Likewise, knowledge can be defined by virtue of similarity of the usage of the term in diverse contexts.

Reliable Knowledge

In An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method (1934), Morris R. Cohen and Ernest Nagel reviewed the pursuit of truth as determined by logical considerations. They reviewed ways of eliminating doubt and arriving at stable beliefs or reliable knowledge, such as

• The method of authority
• The method of intuition
• The methods of experimental inquiry:
  • Types of invariant relations
  • The experimental method in general
  • The method of agreement
  • The method of difference
  • The joint method of agreement and difference
  • The method of concomitant variation
  • The doctrine of the uniformity of nature
  • The plurality of causes

Their final conclusion was, "Scientific method we declare as the most assured technique man has yet devised for controlling the flux of things and establishing stable beliefs."

In an essay entitled "Inductive Method and Scientific Discovery," Marcello Pera said, "In the first place, the scientific method is a procedure, a general strategy that indicates an ordered sequence of moves (or steps) which the scientist has to make (or go through) in order to reach the goal of his research." (In On Scientific Discovery, edited by Grmek, Cohen, and Cimino [1977], published in the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series.) The scientific method is not a method directly applied, but rather a guide to the mental activity stages of originating, refining, extending, and applying knowledge. It is subject neutral and flexible in use; it is thus suitable for all domains.

Statements about truth must be viewed skeptically. Rather than state something as "true," the following phrase should be used: "On the evidence available today the balance of probability favors the view that..." (V. Gordon Childe, Man Makes Himself, 1936)

The literature contains hundreds of formulas for the scientific method. They are basically the same but differ in length and terminology. In an article "Suggestions for Teaching the Scientific Method" published in the March 1961 issue of American Biology Teacher, Dr. Kenneth B.M. Crooks suggested this one:

1. Curiosity
2. Is there a problem?
3. Get the evidence
4. Attributes needed
5. Weigh all evidence
6. Make the educated guess (hypothesis)
7. Challenge the hypothesis
8. Get a conclusion
9. Suspend judgment
10. Deductive reasoning

Communicating knowledge

Symbolic representations can be used to indicate meaning and can be thought of as a dynamic process. Hence the transfer of the symbolic representation can be viewed as one ascription process whereby knowledge can be transferred. Other forms of communication include imitation, narrative exchange along with a range of other methods. There is no complete theory of knowledge transfer or communication.^{[citation needed]}

While many would agree that one of the most universal and significant tools for the transfer of knowledge would be the different systems of writing argument over the usefulness of the written word exists however, with some scholars skeptical of its impact on societies. In his novel “Technopoly” Neil Postman demonstrates the argument against the use of writing through an excerpt from Plato’s work “Phaerus” (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York, pp 73). In this excerpt the scholar Socrates recounts the story of Thamus, the Egyptian king and Theuth the inventor of the written word. In this story Theuth presents his new invention “writing” to King Thamus, telling Thamus that his new invention “will improve both the wisdom and memory of the Egyptians” (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York ,pp 74). King Thamus is skeptical of this new invention and rejects it as a tool of recollection rather than retained knowledge. He argues that the written word will infect the Egyptian people with fake knowledge as they will be able to attain facts and stories form an external source and will no longer be forced to mentally retain large quantities of knowledge themselves (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York ,pp 74).

Andrew Robinson also highlights, in his work “The Origins of Writing”, the possibility for writing to be used to spread false information and there for the ability of the written word to decrease social knowledge (Robinson, Andrew (2003) “The Origins of Writing” in Crowley and Heyer (eds) Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, Allyb and Bacon, Boston pp 34). People are often internalizing new information which they perceive to be knowledge but are in reality fill their minds with false knowledge.

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. ^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or traditions.^{[citation needed]}

Knowledge generated through experience is called knowledge "a posteriori", meaning afterwards. The pure existence of a term like "a posteriori" means this also has a counterpart. In this case that is knowledge "a priori", meaning before. The knowledge prior to any experience means that there are certain "assumptions" that one takes for granted. For example if one is being told about a chair it is clear to him that the chair is in space, that it is 3D. This knowledge is not knowledge that one can "forget", even someone suffering from amnesia experiences the world in 3D. See also: A priori and a posteriori.^{[citation needed]}

Partial knowledge

One discipline of epistemology focusses on partial knowledge. In most realistic cases, it is not possible to have an exhaustive understanding of an information domain, so then we have to live with the fact that our knowledge is always not complete, that is, partial. Most real problems have to be solved by taking advantage of a partial understanding of the problem context and problem data. That is very different from the typical simple math problems that we solve at school, where all data are given and we have a perfect understanding of formulas necessary to solve them.^{[citation needed]}

Knowledge management

Knowledge management is a management theory which emerged in the 1990s. It seeks to understand the way in which knowledge is created, used and shared within organizations. A significant part of Knowledge Management theory and practice aligns two models: (i) the DIKW model, which places data, information, knowledge and wisdom into an increasingly useful pyramid. (ii) Nonaka's reformulation of Polanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Both of these models are increasingly under challenge with different schools of thought emerging which are more fully described and referenced in the main article.

An objective of mainstream knowledge management is to ensure that the right information is delivered to the right person just in time, in order to take the most appropriate decision. In that sense, knowledge management is not interested in managing knowledge per se, but to relate knowledge and its usage. This leads to Organizational Memory Systems. More recent developments have focused on managing networks (the flow of knowledge rather than knowledge itself) and narrative forms of knowledge exchange.

Religious meaning of knowledge

In many expressions of Christianity, such as Catholicism and Anglicanism, knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In Islam, the prophet Muhammad has described himself and his vicergeant Ali as the sources of knowledge: "I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate".

Hindu Scriptures present two kinds of knowledge, Paroksha Gnyana and Aporoksha Gnyana. Paroksha Gnyana is secondhand knowledge: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. Aporoksha Gnyana is the knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself.

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

General Philosophy Sources

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
• Philosophy Sources on Internet EpistemeLinks. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
• Paideia Project Online. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
• Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 3, 2007.

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