Knowledge is the True Organ of Sight - Essay Example

Theory of Knowledge discusses how a is able to know something. The ways of knowing are processes or activities, which people take for granted. Just as we take breathing for granted, so have we taken the sense organs for granted. We never pause to think how we breathe, hear, feel a touch, or understand something. Infants can feel a touch even before their senses have fully developed. Similarly, eyes are merely organs of physical perception. When we acquire knowledge, we actually understand something or gain insight. Until then, it merely remains an awareness of something, which the physical eyes have perceived. Panchatantra, India’s most influential contributions to world (5th Century AD) clearly states, “Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes”. To understand this, introspection into meaning and definitions of ‘knowledge’ and ‘sight’ are essential. Plato defines knowledge as ‘justified true belief’ (Wikipedia). This gives rise to the question what is belief. A "belief" is a state of mind, which can be shown by behaviour, without any corresponding "mental" occurrence (Russell). He further states that if a belief is to be causally important it must be defined as a characteristic of behavior. This explanation cannot be termed as definite because the result of the behavior or action determines if the belief held was true or false. If the search for food results in success, the belief was true but in case of failure, the belief is considered false. This does not truly justify that knowledge is true belief. Knowledge implies that there is a knower and the knowable (or the object). People know many things like whether they feel cold or hot; whether it is raining or snowing, or when the sun will rise or set. How do we know or understand these situations? Descartes argues that the ideas about taste, feel, pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, sadness or happiness come to us without our consent (Newman). We actually do not have the sensory awareness of any object even if we want to. This is the difference between ordinary perception and judgement. The taste, sound, colour, pains are all perceived through the sense organs and with the assistance of the memory, they reach the imagination. The mind receives the data through the nerves from all parts of the body to produce sensory awareness. The mind has a habit of believing what it perceives. This registers in the mind as an experience or knowledge gained through experience. Each person acts or behaves according to their prior experience or their sense of perception. Hence, the eyes cease to exist as the organs of perception. ‘Organ of sight’ implies an instrument of perception of an object. We may be seeing hundreds of things at the same time with our physical eyes but we do not remember about all the objects. Seeing is involuntary; perception is not. We conceive, perceive and assimilate what we are interested in. This experience differs from one person to another. When a glass is partially filled with water, the physical eyes perceive it. While the knowable is the same glass, the knower may be two different people. One says the glass is half filled while the other says the glass is half-empty. Why does their perception differ when both have seen the same glass with the same amount of water in it? If the eyes were the organ of sight, all would perceive a particular object in the same way. The human eyes have limitations. They can only see the visible light spectrum, which implies that our sight ranges from the recognition of the colour red to violet. In terms of wavelength, the visible spectrum ranges only from 393.4 nanometers to 760.6 nanometers, whereas the electromagnetic spectrum encompassing all forms of band waves range from less than 0.003 nm to larger than 100 km. Hence, since the human eyes can only see, perception is one of the ways of learning or acquiring knowledge. ‘One bitten twice shy’ implies the warning that the knower has perceived. He is now cautious in dealing with the same person or circumstances. Humans are sensitive to certain ranges of stimulation. Expectations, assumptions, habits and beliefs affect perception. The learning process begins much before we see with our eyes (Kaipa & Johnson). Then sense of touch develops much before the sense of eyes. The infant weeps when the bed is wet. This is through its perception of touch. It has the knowledge that it does not like this sensation. From where has this knowledge come? In fact, the infant has the highest instinct to learn and the clearest instinct to absorb. Once the eyes start to see, it only confirms what has been learnt through the perception of touch. The brain receives the messages, which it conceives and interprets in terms of patterns. Hence, eyes are not the organs of sight. While perception is knowledge, knowledge is not always perception because there are other ways of knowing. Emotions and experiences influence one’s belief and consequently one’s knowledge. In the darkness, a person misunderstood the rope as the snake and became scared. The eyes could not see properly because there was no light but fear had already gripped him. The next morning (in light), he looked at the same pole and even though he sees it as the rope but his mind was not willing to accept that this was the rope he had seen last night. The nature of the human brain and the knowledge that it contains influences the reactions. The mind dictates how the various organs and the system of the body should react to certain circumstances. He was gripped by the fear of the unknown. The eyes had not seen the snake because it was dark. It was the fear (an emotion) of the unknown due to which he refused to accept that it was the rope at night even when the eyes saw it as rope in the light. The mind wants to satisfy its own speculative character. Beliefs play tricks on the mind. Sight can lead to irrational assumptions and cloud a person’s judgment. People claim ‘seeing is believing’. Why did that person believe that the rope was a snake and not a rope even when he could not see it in the dark? Hence, eyes are not the organs of sight. According to the Theory of Knowledge, the next way of learning is through the language. Language is a method of communication. Most human beings use patterns of sounds or symbols, which they use for communication. This is called language, which is bound by rules of grammar. The Book of the Courtier (1528) was published with a view to educate the public on the proper etiquette of the nobility. No current student in high school was alive during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance and did not experience any first hand knowledge of these two periods. The education requirements of Washington High school sophomores include the completion of European history. All knowledge of Europe and the events that took place during the beginning of the Middle Ages to the end of the Renaissance is based mainly on language and the perception of language. The only interface with historical knowledge is through language. Perception of the past historical events has to be based on language alone. There are many such areas where we have not lived or experienced but we have knowledge about that subject. ‘Words form the thread on which we string our experiences’ (Huxley). There may be claims that past historical events and conditions are someone else’s perception but as Huxley’s says, "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." Hence, eyes are not the organs of sight. Reason is the fourth way of learning according to the Theory of Knowledge. Reason refers to the faculty of human mind that creates and operates with abstract concepts (Wikipedia). Reasoning is the technique used by most philosophers to arrive at the truth. In the story The Foolish Friend (Ashliman), the king groomed a monkey to be his most trustworthy and natural companion. One day when the king asked the monkey to take care nothing disturbed while he slept, the monkey kept strict vigilance. After some time the monkey found a bee hovering over his master continuously. The monkey could not allow this common creature to bite the king before his eyes. Blinded by anger, the monkey drew his sword and struck down the bee with a single blow. Unfortunately, the same blow also split the kings head. No explanation given by the monkey made any effect on anyone. He was shunned by everyone. This experience made them learn from reasoning that "It is better to have a clever enemy than a foolish friend." Thus, we can conclude that not knowing something is not ignorance. Ignoring knowledge is ignorance. When we attain knowledge about something we get the right perception, an insight into the facts. Without the right perception it remains as a physical seeing. Each human mind analyzes information from a different perspective, which is based on experience or one’s cultural background. Seeing is not the end of learning. It may help in certain cases but the right judgment and perception can come only when gains insight into any subject. This insight is called knowledge. Hence, “Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes”. References: Ashliman D L (2002), The Panchatantra, 04 June 2006 Huxley, Aldous (n.d.), ALDOUS HUXLEY: QUOTES, 04 June 2006 Newman, L (2005), Descartes Epistemology, 04 June 2006 Kaipa, Prasad & Johnson, Steve (1999), Igniting your Natural Genius, 03 June 2006 Russell, Bertrand (n.d.), Theory of Knowledge, 03 June 2006 Wikipedia, Theory of Knowledge, 04 June 2006 I have given the six references. You would have to add two more - page 3..about nanometer and the spectrum. The second is about The Book of the Courtier (page 5..) Kindly note the total number of words is below 1600 as per instructions given. Read More