We See and Understand Things not as They Are but as We Are - Essay Example

We see and understand things not as they are but as we are Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a product of doubt (Russell, 1926) where knowledge is analyzed as justified true belief (Holt, 2006) although not all justified true beliefs constitute knowledge. Descartes believes that knowledge is conviction based on reason so strong that it cannot be shakes by any stronger reason (Newman, 2005). We all claim to know many things. For instance, we know when we are happy or sad, when we are not well or when we are lonely. We know when we love someone or hate someone. Rarely do we pause to analyze how this knowing has come about. We take these for granted and we also believe that we know these things. We see and understand things not as they are but as we are. Only when we ask ourselves whether we really know these things do we get down to examining the knowing. This knowing takes place through different means. We see and understand through emotions, perception and reason. Reasoning has been used by most philosophers to arrive at the truth and is an important way of learning according to the TOK. Reasoning is not through logic; it is not automatic but comes through experience. However reason does allow analyzing the situation deeply and taking decisions. Reasoning is a collective endeavour by which people construct meaning together by exchanging, modifying and improving their ideas and opinions (IBO, 2006). Reason is present in everyday decision making and problem solving. When disputes arise, the appropriateness of the reasons for acceptance of the facts is important. Reasoning is the ‘common sense’ way of knowing things and it does not depend upon the limits of sensory observation (Ehman, n.d.). This faculty of ‘common sense’ has been granted only to human beings which means the power of reasoning rests with the human beings. The Foolish Friend is the story of a king who groomed his monkey to be his closest aide, the most trustworthy and natural companion (Ashliman, 2002). One day while taking a stroll in the garden, the king asked the money to ensure that nothing disturbed while he took rest. The money kept strict vigilance and very sincerely too. After some time the monkey found a bee hovering over the King’s face. The monkey tried to keep the bee away by scaring it with a stick. Being faithful to his master, he could not allow anyone to hurt or bite the master. When he found he was not able to frighten the bee, blinded as he was with anger, the monkey killed the bee with one stroke of the sword. Unfortunately the same sword killed the king also. The monkey tried to reason out to the Queen why he was forced to take such a step but no amount of logic made any difference. However, reasoning made the others analyze the situation deeply and arrive at the decision that “it is better to have a clever enemy than a foolish friend”. Even today we follow this principle in life. This example also demonstrates that power of reasoning increases in times of trouble. Had the monkey not smashed the king’s head people would never think anything wrong in having a monkey as a friend. Through reasoning people can take informed decisions. Thus reasoning is an established ‘common sense’ way of knowing. The monkey’s common sense was limited to this extent whereas a human being can reason better. The king could only see and understand as his own self and not the way a monkey would handle it. In life, we all understand and see things as we are and not as they are. We perceive the world around us through our five senses and not through the physical organs such as the eyes or the ears. We have been endowed with the power to perceive and understand through the sense organs. Descartes argues that the ideas about taste, feel, pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, sadness or happiness come to us without our consent (Newman, 2005). These are perceived through the sense organs and reach the intellect. The mind believes what it perceives. This registers as knowledge gained or an experience. In future this experience or perception becomes the basis on which the individual perceives or experiences. This way of knowing can be tested repeatedly and it is also a valuable process in establishing a great deal of knowledge in this modern world (Ehman, n.d.). All of us have experienced not once but several times - we may be physically looking at the object without actually seeing it or registering it in mind. To explain this better, think of the times when our mothers asked us to fetch a book from another room. If we are emotionally disturbed at that time, we enter that room but we return empty-handed saying we could not find the book that mother wanted. The book was lying right in front at the table but we were overpowered by the emotions which prevented us from seeing the book. This justifies that we do not see through the physical organ of sight. The same object is perceived different by different people. If a glass half partly filled with water is kept on the table some would say it is half filled while others look at it as half-empty. All the students in a class listen to the same lecture but each one understands and interprets according to his or her capability. This means they derive a subjective experience and not an objective experience. The teacher and the lecture are not important; the students’ intelligence, mental framework and the state of emotions govern his ability to perceive and assimilate. Hence knowledge is not gained through the physical organs but through individual perception. Emotions as a way of knowing, is open to all. Emotions have a powerful way of shaping our thoughts, influencing behaviour and steering the pursuit of knowledge (IBO, 2006). Emotions help to understand the self and understand the world. Emotions spring from within and influence a person’s belief. For instance, if you happen to wake up at night and find something hanging outside the window, you will be scared to even switch on the light because you have decided that it is a snake. You lie still waiting for the day to break and then gather the courage to wake someone else. When you come out and find that it was merely a rope, the mind does not accept this. The emotion of fear has convinced you at night that it was a snake and the mind being powerful dictates how each organ should respond to the stimuli. In the darkness you inferred that it was a snake and refuse to accept that it was a snake. This according to Russell is the method of induction. The belief that we nurture plays tricks with the mind. We see and understand things as we are. In the similar situation, another person may react differently based on his emotions and beliefs. This demonstrates how emotions shape our thoughts and influence our behaviour. When a teenage girl becomes pregnant emotions prevail over morality. Morality may prohibit abortion but the young girl’s parents more worried about their daughter’s life if she became a teenage mother. Abortion is a personal, life-changing and a traumatic decision that the woman has to make and here her emotions count the most. Any amount of reasoning at this time does not work. She may be adamant not to get it aborted but nobody at this juncture would able to make her see reason. At a young age sensations are the most important source of satisfaction. She values motherhood and this evaluation is accompanied by an emotion. We use emotions to change our relations with the world, says Foulds (2006). Emotions most often are immune to reason and indifferent even to our instincts for self-preservation. This is the reason we do not even display our dislike for a person. Emotions help to govern our own selves but at the same time emotions can be profoundly irrational. Nevertheless, we evaluate situations and people based on our emotions and any amount of reasons will not change our perception. We tend to evaluate as we are and not as others think or would like us to think. Hence, whether we use emotions, reason or perception as the way of knowing, in all three ways, the knowledge that is attained is based on how we look at things. Our emotions influence our belief. Our perceptions are based on how we respond to the stimuli. We reason out things based on our beliefs, past experiences and understanding. If we see and understand things as they are, then all the people under the same circumstances would see things and evaluate in the same way. The process of knowing starts with a doubt, reasoning is followed by evaluation based on beliefs and emotions, and response to the stimuli is based on the perceptions of the sensory organs and finally knowing takes place. We see and understand things based on our emotions and our ability to accept reasoning. References Ashliman, DL 2002, The Panchatantra, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/panchatantra.html#about Ehman, CJ n.d., WAYS OF KNOWING, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://www.acperesearch.net/knowing.html Foulds, S 2006, A PHILOSOPHY of the EMOTIONS, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://www.hinau.co.nz/Emotions.htm IBO, 2006, Theory of Knowledge, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://xmltwo.ibo.org/dp2006-03/dp_x_tokxx_guu_0603_1_e/8 Newman, L 2005, Descartes Epistemology, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/#1 Russell, B 1926, Theory of Knowledge, retrieved online 20 August 2009, from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/russell1.htm Read More