We discussed the difference between two statements in class the other day – ‘I know Paris’ and ‘I know Paris is the capital of France’. How many different types of knowing exist? Is there a difference between the knowing expressed in the two statements given above?
‘I know Paris’ is a rather vague statement – this kind of knowing could refer to almost anything. I could be making this statement as a Parisian – in this case however, it would have some sentimental value attached to it. I know Paris, I am personally attached to the city, and know it as nobody else does – this is a very personal and individualistic type of knowing. I could be making the statement as a tourist, meaning that I know Paris as a tourist destination, and as a beautiful European city – it could also possibly have some emotional value attached (it could be the best holiday of my life etc.). Knowing the city personally would identify as knowledge by acquaintance – this knowledge is personal and almost entirely based on my opinion and experience. Nobody else can have the same knowledge as me in this sense, as everybody will have their own way of experiencing and interpreting things and situations.
Now, one could look at an entirely new dimension of the issue altogether – the statement does not specify which Paris I know, I could very well be referring to a person called Paris, another place called Paris, a word called ‘paris’ which means something else, even Paris Hilton! Again, I could be talking about the fact of their existence, or knowing them personally, or my personal attachment to them. Alternatively, I could merely be saying that I know Paris exists, that I know it is a city in the world. I could be saying that I know where Paris on the map, or where it is located in the world (latitude, longitude). I could make this statement if I knew all about the people, culture, cuisine, language etc. of Paris, even if I have never actually visited Paris. This is not my own knowledge, or not what I have experienced – it is what I have been told or taught in school, or read in newspapers, magazines, books, atlases etc., or I could have heard it on the radio or the television. This would identify as knowledge by description.
‘I know Paris is the capital of France’ is a very definite clear statement – when I make this statement, I am saying that I know Paris is the city where the central government of France is situated. This would identify as knowledge by description – I have heard, read or been told in/by a reliable source that Paris is the capital of France, and I therefore believe it. It was someone’s opinion to begin with, to make Paris the capital of France, and when it was agreed by a group of people in France, the central government of the country was set up in Paris. We view this as definite irrefutable knowledge because it is a ‘universally accepted fact’ and everyone believes that Paris is the capital of France. However, possibly if the rest of the world refused to accept Paris as the capital of France, this statement would not be identified as knowledge at all, because it wouldn’t be a universal fact!
Yes, knowledge by acquaintance most certainly is opinionated – it is based on opinion and experience, it is each person’s own point of view/perspective. It can therefore be said that knowledge by acquaintance is biased knowledge. In my opinion (note, this is an opinion, not knowledge), knowledge by description is rarely biased, unless it is interpreted or understood in a wrong sense. For example, if someone told me that ‘Paris is the capital of France’ and I thought some place (also called Paris) other than the main city of Paris is the capital of France, I would be misinterpreting the information given to me, and this could be called biased knowledge.
- Priyal Chitale.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Knowledge Claims
• I know how to speak French
French is the language that originated in France and is spoken in France and many other Francophone countries. Having studied French as a second language for a duration of three years for my IGCSE exam, I can communicate with people to a certain extent in French – I can speak in a language which is considered to be French by the world, I have successfully passed an IGCSE French oral examination, I can communicate with French-speaking people in their language, I can therefore say that I know how to speak French.
• I know stealing is wrong
This is purely a matter of belief and opinion – it is a moralistic belief, so to speak. Stealing is defined as ‘taking something that belongs to another person without permission or legal right, and usually secretly’ in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. I have been brought up to believe that stealing is against my moral principles, and against what society perceives as right – I therefore ‘know’ that stealing is wrong. However, there is a section of society (here again, it would be inaccurate to address them as a section of society, because this belief of theirs itself makes them social outcasts) that sees nothing morally wrong in stealing – in fact, many of them cannot afford to see it as morally wrong, as it is their livelihood. Some even regard stealing as an art to be mastered! Everyone is brought up with a set of beliefs, but sometimes, experience forces one to change one’s opinion and to alter one’s set of beliefs. It would be inaccurate to say that ‘I know that stealing is wrong’, because this cannot be classified as knowledge – it should be replaced by the statement ‘I believe that stealing is wrong’.
• I know God exists
This can be definitely identified as the most controversial statement on this list – this is an extremely personal belief. As I have mentioned in my previous post, each person’s definition and perception of God is likely to be different – the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines God as ‘a being or spirit that is believed to have power over nature and control over human affairs; the Supreme Being, Creator and ruler of the universe’. My definition of God is completely different from these two definitions listed in the dictionary - as one of my co-students, Avichal said in class, I believe God is a driving force within us, that God exists within all of us. I don’t think of himself as an external being or some sort of formidable spirit. God and religion have always been inevitably connected – I am not a religious person, and do not believe in any one religion. People often tend to label me as an atheist for this reason, which is absolutely untrue – I just don’t agree with their perception of God, and their way of honouring God. For the people who think God exists, they ‘know’ that God as they define it exists, they might have some personal proof or experience whereby they ‘know’ this. Atheists opine that there is nothing like God (that nobody has managed to come up with concrete evidence to prove that God exists, they probably take as proof that God doesn’t exist) – they believe firmly in it and for that section of society, it is knowledge for them. Therefore, this is again something that cannot be classified as knowledge, and it would be more accurate to say ‘I believe that God exists’.
• I know it is raining
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines rain as ‘water that falls from the clouds in separate drops’ – as I mentioned in my previous post, the origins of all knowledge lie in opinion. It was someone’s opinion that rain is water that falls from the clouds in separate drops, and when this opinion was accepted by the world as fact, it was established as knowledge. If I am walking on the road, and feel water falling on me, and look up and see water droplets falling on me, I presume that the water is falling from the clouds, and that it is rain. There is no way I can prove, while looking at the water droplets falling and feeling their wetness on my skin, that they have fallen from the clouds above. In fact, that rain is water that falls from the clouds above is an opinion that has been ‘proven’ to be fact and is accepted as knowledge now – a few centuries down the line, someone might prove that rain is actually some other type of substance that arises out of nothing.
• I know my mother is older than I am
My mother, as a human being in this lifetime, has lived for a longer period of time on this planet than I have – she did give birth to me after all. She is therefore older than I am. Now I address the question; what is age? In human society on planet earth, if person A existed for longer than person B in his body, person A is considered older than person B. Maybe on some other planet, life goes backwards – one is born old and one dies a baby, therefore, my mother having lived for longer than me, would still be considered younger than me! I also believe in the concept of cycle of lives and rebirth – I can vouch for my mother having lived longer than I on this planet only in this lifetime. Perhaps, in my last birth, I was older than she was, or maybe we were of the same age. I don’t even know whether we were human beings in our last life, or if we lived on the Earth at all! Therefore, I would therefore like to alter this statement a bit – ‘I know my mother is older than I am in this lifetime, according to human society on planet earth’.
• I know my tooth hurts
• I know she doesn’t like me
• I know 2 + 2 = 4
• I know I will pass the test
- Priyal Chitale.
-post under construction-
French is the language that originated in France and is spoken in France and many other Francophone countries. Having studied French as a second language for a duration of three years for my IGCSE exam, I can communicate with people to a certain extent in French – I can speak in a language which is considered to be French by the world, I have successfully passed an IGCSE French oral examination, I can communicate with French-speaking people in their language, I can therefore say that I know how to speak French.
• I know stealing is wrong
This is purely a matter of belief and opinion – it is a moralistic belief, so to speak. Stealing is defined as ‘taking something that belongs to another person without permission or legal right, and usually secretly’ in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. I have been brought up to believe that stealing is against my moral principles, and against what society perceives as right – I therefore ‘know’ that stealing is wrong. However, there is a section of society (here again, it would be inaccurate to address them as a section of society, because this belief of theirs itself makes them social outcasts) that sees nothing morally wrong in stealing – in fact, many of them cannot afford to see it as morally wrong, as it is their livelihood. Some even regard stealing as an art to be mastered! Everyone is brought up with a set of beliefs, but sometimes, experience forces one to change one’s opinion and to alter one’s set of beliefs. It would be inaccurate to say that ‘I know that stealing is wrong’, because this cannot be classified as knowledge – it should be replaced by the statement ‘I believe that stealing is wrong’.
• I know God exists
This can be definitely identified as the most controversial statement on this list – this is an extremely personal belief. As I have mentioned in my previous post, each person’s definition and perception of God is likely to be different – the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines God as ‘a being or spirit that is believed to have power over nature and control over human affairs; the Supreme Being, Creator and ruler of the universe’. My definition of God is completely different from these two definitions listed in the dictionary - as one of my co-students, Avichal said in class, I believe God is a driving force within us, that God exists within all of us. I don’t think of himself as an external being or some sort of formidable spirit. God and religion have always been inevitably connected – I am not a religious person, and do not believe in any one religion. People often tend to label me as an atheist for this reason, which is absolutely untrue – I just don’t agree with their perception of God, and their way of honouring God. For the people who think God exists, they ‘know’ that God as they define it exists, they might have some personal proof or experience whereby they ‘know’ this. Atheists opine that there is nothing like God (that nobody has managed to come up with concrete evidence to prove that God exists, they probably take as proof that God doesn’t exist) – they believe firmly in it and for that section of society, it is knowledge for them. Therefore, this is again something that cannot be classified as knowledge, and it would be more accurate to say ‘I believe that God exists’.
• I know it is raining
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines rain as ‘water that falls from the clouds in separate drops’ – as I mentioned in my previous post, the origins of all knowledge lie in opinion. It was someone’s opinion that rain is water that falls from the clouds in separate drops, and when this opinion was accepted by the world as fact, it was established as knowledge. If I am walking on the road, and feel water falling on me, and look up and see water droplets falling on me, I presume that the water is falling from the clouds, and that it is rain. There is no way I can prove, while looking at the water droplets falling and feeling their wetness on my skin, that they have fallen from the clouds above. In fact, that rain is water that falls from the clouds above is an opinion that has been ‘proven’ to be fact and is accepted as knowledge now – a few centuries down the line, someone might prove that rain is actually some other type of substance that arises out of nothing.
• I know my mother is older than I am
My mother, as a human being in this lifetime, has lived for a longer period of time on this planet than I have – she did give birth to me after all. She is therefore older than I am. Now I address the question; what is age? In human society on planet earth, if person A existed for longer than person B in his body, person A is considered older than person B. Maybe on some other planet, life goes backwards – one is born old and one dies a baby, therefore, my mother having lived for longer than me, would still be considered younger than me! I also believe in the concept of cycle of lives and rebirth – I can vouch for my mother having lived longer than I on this planet only in this lifetime. Perhaps, in my last birth, I was older than she was, or maybe we were of the same age. I don’t even know whether we were human beings in our last life, or if we lived on the Earth at all! Therefore, I would therefore like to alter this statement a bit – ‘I know my mother is older than I am in this lifetime, according to human society on planet earth’.
• I know my tooth hurts
• I know she doesn’t like me
• I know 2 + 2 = 4
• I know I will pass the test
- Priyal Chitale.
-post under construction-
Is opinion knowledge?
I would like to begin by defining these two main terms; opinion and knowledge. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines opinion as ‘a belief or judgement about somebody or something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge’ and knowledge as ‘the facts, information, understanding and skills that a person has acquired through experience or education; an organised body of information shared by people in a particular field; the awareness of a fact or situation’. Take for example, a simple statement like ‘Everybody has an opinion on everything’ – now I might say that I KNOW everybody has an opinion on everything. However, that wouldn’t really be my knowledge, as I can never know for sure whether everyone in the world has an opinion on everything or not – it can be called my belief, or my opinion.
One word that resonated throughout the description of knowledge is ‘information’ – knowledge is based on ‘information’ and our understanding and interpretation of this ‘information’. However, all knowledge starts off as an opinion or theory of some kind – Galileo was of the opinion that the earth was spherical, however, four centuries ago, a majority of the population was of the opinion that the earth was flat, and this was regarded as knowledge (and gospel truth), thus Galileo’s opinion was initially shunned, till it was ‘proved’ to be right. Then, Galileo’s theory became knowledge! Who knows, a few centuries down the line, someone else might me able to prove that the earth is indeed flat in shape!
Take a debatable issue like that of God for example – many people might have an opinion that God does exist. However, each person’s definition and perception of God is most likely to be different – for the people who think God exists, they ‘know’ that God exists, they might have some personal proof or experience whereby they ‘know’ this. Atheists opine that there is nothing like God (that nobody has managed to come up with concrete evidence to prove that God exists, they probably take as proof that God doesn’t exist) – they believe firmly in it and for that section of society, it is knowledge about them. The existence (or lack of it) of God cannot be ‘proven’ at this point of time, and it will probably always remain a mystery to human beings.
Opinion and knowledge are intricately intertwined and interconnected with each other – knowledge is opinion that has been ‘proven’ and accepted by society at a certain point of time, thus, knowledge itself is constantly changing and evolving. Opinion is the perspective or point of view on a particular issue, person or thing of a person or group of people – opinion is not always knowledge, many times the person(s) voicing their opinion has absolutely no ‘knowledge’ about the issue. However, it is because people have opinions that theories evolve, and we have knowledge.
To conclude, knowledge is opinion that has been ‘proven’ to be ‘fact’ or ‘information’ at a certain point of time – however, as I have already mentioned, knowledge is constantly changing and evolving. Since there are so many opinions in the world, both conflicting and allied, it would be highly inaccurate to say that opinion is knowledge – however, it would be more precise to say that some opinion is knowledge, and that opinion is the base for all knowledge. If there was no opinion, then there would be no knowledge.
- Priyal Chitale.
One word that resonated throughout the description of knowledge is ‘information’ – knowledge is based on ‘information’ and our understanding and interpretation of this ‘information’. However, all knowledge starts off as an opinion or theory of some kind – Galileo was of the opinion that the earth was spherical, however, four centuries ago, a majority of the population was of the opinion that the earth was flat, and this was regarded as knowledge (and gospel truth), thus Galileo’s opinion was initially shunned, till it was ‘proved’ to be right. Then, Galileo’s theory became knowledge! Who knows, a few centuries down the line, someone else might me able to prove that the earth is indeed flat in shape!
Take a debatable issue like that of God for example – many people might have an opinion that God does exist. However, each person’s definition and perception of God is most likely to be different – for the people who think God exists, they ‘know’ that God exists, they might have some personal proof or experience whereby they ‘know’ this. Atheists opine that there is nothing like God (that nobody has managed to come up with concrete evidence to prove that God exists, they probably take as proof that God doesn’t exist) – they believe firmly in it and for that section of society, it is knowledge about them. The existence (or lack of it) of God cannot be ‘proven’ at this point of time, and it will probably always remain a mystery to human beings.
Opinion and knowledge are intricately intertwined and interconnected with each other – knowledge is opinion that has been ‘proven’ and accepted by society at a certain point of time, thus, knowledge itself is constantly changing and evolving. Opinion is the perspective or point of view on a particular issue, person or thing of a person or group of people – opinion is not always knowledge, many times the person(s) voicing their opinion has absolutely no ‘knowledge’ about the issue. However, it is because people have opinions that theories evolve, and we have knowledge.
To conclude, knowledge is opinion that has been ‘proven’ to be ‘fact’ or ‘information’ at a certain point of time – however, as I have already mentioned, knowledge is constantly changing and evolving. Since there are so many opinions in the world, both conflicting and allied, it would be highly inaccurate to say that opinion is knowledge – however, it would be more precise to say that some opinion is knowledge, and that opinion is the base for all knowledge. If there was no opinion, then there would be no knowledge.
- Priyal Chitale.
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