The Nature of Knowledge - Essay Example

The Nature of Knowledge Human beings have wondered about truth, reality and knowledge since thousands of years. The Hindus, the Greeks and Egyptians all had their own interpretation of nature leading to different concepts of what is reality. While the Hindus came up with the theory of 'Maya', or illusion and an underlying universal Truth, the Greeks postulated different ideas of reality .Epistemology, was popular with the Greek philosophers. The most famous of the Greek philosophers who propounded the nature of knowledge were Plato and his famous pupil, Aristotle. Western philosophy owes a great deal to these great scholars. Modern science is based on the theories of Aristotle. Earlier, mere opinions were taken as reality, without any deep inquiry. In the seventeenth century, Western scientists started deeper inquiry into earlier postulates. Thus ,it was only when Copernicus came and gave them proof that the earth goes round the sun , that the scientists' opinion changed into knowledge. America was discovered when opinion that the earth was flat, changed into knowledge that it was round, Epistemology is the study of the nature, origin and limits of human knowledge. We come to the question, "What is Knowledge" Is it something concrete or is it something abstract To define knowledge, we must study the uses of knowledge. Knowledge can be 'know him' or 'know that' or 'know how.' It is the task of philosophy to discuss this question- what is knowledge Is it intuitive or acquired through experience How is knowledge different from opinion While Plato answers the enigma of knowledge in his Republic, Aristotle refutes Plato's theories in his writings. Although Aristotle 's empirical theories have been the basis of modern science, I think that Plato is right when he says that knowledge involves true belief, since no one can know what is false. Now, the question, "What is knowledge " poses a conundrum which needs a lot of thinking. To understand the concept of knowledge, we must look at the language. Language is the medium in which a concept can be formed. By studying how the words are used, we can get a fair idea of a concept. To answer the question 'What is knowledge' , we should go to the uses of knowledge. Knowledge is 'know that', or ' know how' or ' know where'. There is an important difference between ' know that' and ' know how'. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "'Know that 'denotes the possession of specific pieces of information , and a person who has knowledge of this sort can generally convey it to others."(p. 473) Epistemology is focused on 'knowing that'. On the other hand, 'know how' is knowledge related to a skill or ability. A person can have a knowledge of swimming and be a good swimmer , but he may not be able to convey this skill to others. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 'know how' is a knowledge or ability, "One can have knowledge without being able to explain to other people what it is that one knows"(p. 473) Plato explains knowledge in many of his books including The Republic and the Theaetetus .His works are in the form of dialogues between the pupil and the preceptor The Republic is the most famous of his works. The Theaetetus is one of Plato's greatest works on epistemology probably written in 369 B.C. In this work which is the form of a dialogue, Plato discusses the question "What is knowledge" The question and answer exchange takes place between Socrates, the main questioner , and two of his young pupils. The key question of the dialogue is "What is knowledge" When Socrates asks this question, the pupils are bewildered. The one of them comes out with the answer that it is a knowing something such as geometry or astronomy. Socrates objects to this saying that examples are not definitions. At Socrates' prompting, the young pupil comes out with a proposal that , "Knowledge is perception". When Socrates criticizes this proposal, the pupil comes up with a second proposal that "Knowledge is true belief"., which provokes Socrates to say "What is false belief" The final proposal that the pupil comes out with is that, "Knowledge is true belief with an account (logos)"(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Plato makes a clear distinction between knowledge which is certain and mere opinion, which is not certain He explains these concepts in his Republic using the allegory of the cave. Prisoners inside a cave see the shadows of puppets on the wall and think that they are real. When a prisoner comes out, he sees the puppets and perceives that his earlier perception of reality was a mere shadow. He now thinks that the puppets are real till he moves out into the sun and perceives that there are things which the puppets just imitated, and which are 'more real'. Thus knowledge goes on replacing opinion. Mere opinion is like seeing the shadows, whereas knowledge is an escape from the cave into the real world. The student finally reaches knowledge of the form through dialectic. An example of this is the ancient scientists and philosophers believed that the sun goes round the earth. This was the opinion they formed using their daily observations through the sense of sight, which was proved false by Copernicus, who used the dialectic method to reach the knowledge that the earth goes round the sun. According to Plato, opinions spring from sensations whereas knowledge is concerned with forms. He holds that knowledge in always there, buried deep within the soul. Ideas are developed by learning, where whatever is learned is actually recalled from deep within the person. The teacher helps in the learning process just as a mid-wife helps in delivering the baby. On the other hand, for Aristotle , knowledge is empirical, which is accessible by experience and reason. According to him, "With rational souls, humans can perform the highest activity which is obtaining knowledge"(Encyclopedia Britannica p.556) He rejects many of Platonic arguments, taking a contrary position. In contrast to Plato's idealism, Aristotle advocates empiricism. Aristotle held that we become aware of the universals only by experiencing them through the senses. His idea of knowledge depends on sense perceptions. Plato advocated the method of inquiry, while Aristotle's method of inquiry was not deductive. Aristotle discusses the" proper structure of scientific knowledge urging that each science must depend on a set of first principles or axioms that are necessarily true and directly knowable"(Encyclopedia Britannica 60) In his view, the science could be explained by the axioms. In the syllogism All stars are distant objects All distant objects twinkle. Therefore all stars twinkle. "The fact that all stars twinkle is explained by the fact that all distant objects twinkle, and the fact that stars are distant objects. The premises of the first syllogism in the senses are he first principles, which do not require demonstration, and the conclusion of the final syllogism is the scientific truth in question".(Encyclopedia Britannica P.477) The Republic by Plato contains one of the earliest systematic arguments to show that sense experiences cannot constitute knowledge. For example, if you show a child some sticks in which two are of equal length and ask him to separate them, he will do it easily. The child has a clear grasp of equality. Where did this knowledge come from Ordinary persons with no scientific training, have clear understanding of certain concepts like equality. According to Plato, such knowledge cannot be born of , the sense experience but that it is recollected by the soul from an earlier existence. On the other hand, for Aristotle, 'soul' and 'intellect' are scientific terms. He said that real knowledge can be gained only through sense perceptions. The intellect discerns the principles of the things it perceives, and knowledge arises. Aristotle defines memory and imagination as internal senses. The mind gets the images through the senses. The mind is the power to think. In Aristotle's philosophy, there is no such thing as innate idea .All knowledge is t acquired through sense perceptions Thus, knowledge comes after experience. Although Aristotle's epistemology is perhaps closer to our own perception of knowledge, recent advances in pure sciences and psychology indicate that Plato's ideas about knowledge may be more valid. According to Plato, there is a higher world than that we experience with our senses. Whatever beauty or goodness we experience with our senses, there is a a higher, unchanging reality of beauty and goodness. If we can grasp this Form, we can grasp the ultimate Truth. Plato taught that behind all finite existences and ideas and principles, there is an Intelligence , or Mind, which is the foremost principle of all. He called this the 'World of Ideas.' There is complete disagreement with Plato in Aristotle's philosophy. Aristotle wrote criticizing Plato's doctrine of Ideas. He held that universal principles are objects of our reason, just as physical objects are objects of our sense perceptions. William Turner says , "according to Aristotle, the formal aspect of universality is conferred by the mind, and therefore, the universal, as such, does not exist in individual things, but in the mind alone." (William Turner, History of Philosophy, p. 132.) The final result Aristotle wanted to achieve was a "fixed body of knowledge systematically ordered and deductively demonstrated. But his method of inquiry was not deductive , and the finished system remained an aspiration rather than an accomplishment".(Encyclopedia Britannica p.59) To sum up and conclude, Plato and Aristotle have both exerted very great influence on modern sciences. While for Plato, knowledge was something innate, to be arrived at after a series of questions and answers, for Aristotle, knowledge was something to be obtained by means of our sense experiences. For Plato knowing is a mental state which is something similar to, but different from believing, whereas Aristotle maintains that knowledge can be obtained by natural means or by reason. Plato's Idealism is rejected by the inductive, analytical empiricism of Aristotle. The time has come for the modern scientist, with his reliance on Aristotle,'s empiricism all these centuries, to look into Plato's theory of innate knowledge. . . . Works cited Turner, William. The History of Philosophy Ginn and Company, Boston. 1908( p 132) . Durant, Will. The Story of Philosophy Washington Square Press Inc. New York. 1962 "Aristotle", Encyclopedia Britannica E/17 Vol 1 Chicago 2005 "Plato on Knowledge in the Theaeletus"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, May 7, 2005. Read More