Knowledge Claims

Knowledge Claims-
· I know its raining-
This is can be termed knowledge by description. When I see outside the window and see raindrops falling onto the ground, I can conclude that its raining. I have seen it rain before so I can link it to what I remember of the rain. It is a fact, that when water droplets fall from the sky, it is called rain which is a form of precipitation.
· I know 2+2=4
I have learnt this although my childhood in each and every math class. I have experimented to prove this to myself. I took two boxes on one side, and two on the other. I pushed them to the centre and counted. One, two, three and four! This is how I knew that 2+2 was 4. Unless some radical change proves that four is not four- I would be sure that 2+2=4.
· My mother is older than I am
I know this because I was born after she was. She gave birth to me. She lived a number of years before I was born. The accepted meaning of older is- existing for longer, in relation to another. Hence since she lived for longer, she existed for longer. Thus she is older than I am.
· I know how to speak French
If I have spoken French and have conversed in French with someone else- know how to speak in French. This is knowledge by acquaintance as it is personal. Unless I was unaware than what I was speaking was Gujarati and not French, I would know how to speak French.
· I know I will pass the test
This is knowledge by acquaintance and also involves a degree of confidence. If I know the topic well I can make this claim. But if the test is a surprise and is a very subjective test with mainly application based questions, I would be a fool to make this claim as my ‘doing well’ would depend on the teacher.
· I know stealing is wrong
This is also knowledge by acquaintance as it is personal. Through my upbringing I have been told this. However someone else may believe that stealing is not wrong. It depends on ethics and upbringing.
· I know my tooth hurts
This is knowledge by acquaintance. I can feel this as my pain receptors in my gum tell my brain that it is hurting. My brain processes this and I can conclude that my tooth is hurting. It is internal and depends on my receptors. If the receptors in my gum are suppressed, maybe due to some analgesics or narcotics, I will not know that my tooth hurts.
· I know she doesn’t like me
This is personal and depends on the signs that she hints to me. However I would never know for sure. She may like me and unless she tells me she doesn’t I would never know that she doesn’t like me. And even if she does tell me she might be lying. So I can never know the truth.
· I know god exists
This also depends on knowledge by acquaintance and is very personal. I may believe that god may exist but this is different from the belief of an atheist. Some people do believe in a power but hate to distinguish it to a particular god. I have never seen god so I have no proof that he exists. However I have felt the power of this supernatural existence called god, thus I believe god exists.


(I submitted a hard copy of this on Monday the 17th of September)