Ways of Knowing and the Truth - Essay Example

 Ways of Knowing and the Truth Introduction “Knowledge … in its strict sense, only applies to things that are true” (Southwell 1). The quest for knowledge and its acquisition since time immemorial, continues till date, because, knowledge has helped man conduct his life better and thereby empowered him in many ways. Therefore, it is not very surprising that a number of philosophers and thinkers of the past have been pre-occupied by the concept of Knowledge. While some may hold that knowledge is nothing but truth, some others have given importance to the various branches of Knowledge and their applications, and quite a few other philosophers have pondered over the epistemology itself, regarding its sources; constituent elements; ways of acquiring knowledge, and so on. It is useful to get acquainted with epistemology. This is because human beings are surrounded in daily life by a multitude of challenges that require them to be aware of their own cultural, linguistic, financial, moral and ethical principles which influence their day-to-day decisions. This essay shall briefly discuss the concept of ‘Truth’ and ‘Knowledge’ and then take a look at the four main ‘ways of knowing,’ their strengths and weaknesses. The essay shall then focus on ‘perception’ and ‘language’ – two of the ways of knowing, and argue that perception as a way of knowing is more likely to lead to the Truth as compared to ‘language.’ Appropriate examples from history and literature shall be cited to illustrate the arguments answering the question “Are some Ways of Knowing more likely than others to lead to the Truth?” ‘Truth’ and ‘Knowledge’ Interestingly, there has been no single, direct answer to the question “what is meant by ‘truth’? In the New Testament, Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, asks Jesus Christ what the latter had done in order to be brought before him. To this Jesus refers to the concept of truth thus, implying that it - ‘Truth’ exists as an independent entity, “You … I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth; everyone on the side of truth listens to me;” to which Pilate questions Christ "What is truth?" (John 18: 28-40 cited in Southwell 2). “Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond, or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights” (Bacon 1). Here Bacon too, does not deal with the concept of truth directly, but through the use of analogy of pearl. Bacon implicates that pure form truth does have its value and glow, which is compared to the subdued lustre of pearls whereas half-truths or truth when mixed with a bit of lies is more attractive, like the glitter of a diamond. Bertrand Russell in "Truth and Falsehood" in his Problems of Philosophy, puts forward the “correspondence” theory of truth; this states that ‘truth is the understanding that results from the manner in which one’s belief’s describe reality; and therefore, truth is “…a belief is true when there is a corresponding fact, and is false when there is no corresponding fact.” (cited in Reading For Philosophical Inquiry: A Brief Introduction, p. 2). Plato initially theorized that ‘knowledge’ or in order ‘to know’ something, three conditions - called the “Conditions of Knowledge,” namely a) it should be true; 2) One should consciously believe it; and 3) sufficient evidence should justify it (Southwell 4). This is referred to as the “tripartite theory of knowledge” or “knowledge” is “justified true belief” (Holt 1). There are two theories associated with the source of Knowledge: 1) Empiricism, and 2) Rationalism (Holt 1). The first theory states that knowledge gained is mainly based in experience, and second theory holds that knowledge is gained, based mainly on logical thinking and reason. Regarding the ways or means of knowing, there are four ways of knowing, given by philosophy, the nature, merits and demerits of which are worthy of discussion. The Four Ways of Knowing The four ways of knowing are given as: Perception, Language, Reasoning, and Emotion. Perception may be understood as a process that essentially involves the act of perceiving or seeing, and sifting information through a maze of input, from the experiences gained from various senses, and understanding it in the appropriate context, and keeping relevant record of the same for future use regarding the external world. It is not as if human beings take in the information gained from the experiences with external objects “passively;” to the contrary, they “contribute just as much” to these “experiences as do the objects that they are experiences of” (Holt 1). For example, person who has seen a coiled snake recognizes and relates a coiled rope to his earlier experiences of seeing a coiled snake. Perception as stated by John Berger “which establishes our place in the surrounding world” (p.7). The strength of perception is that it gives personal insight, to understand what might most likely be the truth, in a whole lot of possibilities. It protects the individual by helping one recognize adverse or advantageous situations from the past, and arrive at a decision in a current situation, even if other information are not helpful. However, the biggest weakness of perception is that it is limited to a particular individual, or society or culture and need not be universal in nature. For example, dark moisture-borne clouds mark the rain-giving monsoon season in the Indian sub-continent, and it is time to rejoice since rain, replenishes the much-needed water sources there. However, dark clouds are perceived as gloomy days in the cold or temperate regions such as Britain. Thus the perceptions of an individual may not be understood by another individual hailing from a different culture or place. Language: may be understood as the structured way in which mind understands external objects or the world. Words have become such much a part of communication system that it may be difficult to think without them. Language has the potential to become an individual’s identifier while at the same time representing the collective culture of that individual. It serves as an effective form of expression that communicates emotions, or reasoning, or one’s perception to oneself as well as to others. Language can exist in the wordless forms too, like sign language, body language that is produced without a conscious effort by the individual (like locking of eyebrows when in deep thought). The strength of language is that it is a powerful tool of communication that aids knowledge, in the form of natural languages, like English, Chinese and so on, artificial language like computer languages, and animal languages (IB Vantaa School – ‘Language’ webpage). Its weakness is that, it may be confined to specific areas and cultures and thus, does not convey universal messages to all, for example, ‘Tsunami’ is word from an Asian language that denotes sudden rising of sea-waves and water-level in the region where it is most common –Japan. Until recently, the word may have been most unfamiliar to a Scottish National in UK. Reasoning: may be understood as a complex process that actually arrives at a conclusion, on the basis of “certain premises, using a given methodology” (IB Vantaa School ‘Reasoning’ webpage). It is classified into seventeen types depending on the precise action it does (ChangingMinds.Org 1). The strength of reasoning is that it allows exploration of various possible options in problems-solving situation and is the most conducive to learning. Many scientific inventions have been possible only because of logical reasoning. Steam engine that helped pull the rail coaches was invented by the logical deduction that if steam can push up the lid of a kettle, then sufficient steam can be made to pull coaches too. However, reasoning has its weakness too. It gives scope for controversy and confusion, because it is based on the arguments made on beliefs and assumptions, and very few facts, most of the times. Emotions: may be described as the collected expression of feelings that at are not merely sensory in nature. “Emotions, like beliefs and desires, can be conceived either as occurring mental events or as dispositions for such events to occur” (Elster, 1387). It is indeed capable of transforming human beings into angels or beasts, by virtue of their power. It holds the key to self-understanding, according to the Bhagavad Gita (IB Vantaa School- ‘Emotions’ Webpage), the ancient Hindu text. Emotions can be classified as positive and negative; kindness, pity, affection are examples of the former, while hatred, fear, guilt are examples of the second. The greatest strength of emotion is that, it is capable of spurring human beings into action. However, its weakness is that, it is for most part uncontrollable, and wells up suddenly in human beings. Furthermore, it blocks reason from guiding or analyzing the situation, in a pragmatic and sound manner, often making the individual vulnerable to misjudgment. Having seen the four main ways of knowing, their strengths and weaknesses, the following section shall argue that ‘perception’ is more likely than language to lead one to know the ‘truth.’ Perception vs. Language As mentioned earlier, ‘perception’ is a collected knowledge, of past experiences and the insights gained from those experiences. The knowledge input can be from one’s own personal experiences, or the inferences gained from others’ experiences in specific situations. Furthermore, perception makes use of the interpretations embedded deep down in the memory, of experiences which are not consciously remembered by the current active memory. These collected experiences help the individual gain an insight into the situation, even when some data may be missing or confusing. Even accepting that perception is limited by the fact that it is subjective, it still is likely to overcome the weaknesses of language by its sheer intuitive capacity and arrive at a likely conclusion. Language may sometimes distort the message, even to a person who understands the language of the conveyor. For example, consider the statement – ‘The man and woman were coming closer. The road was dark and narrow.’ In this sentence, it is ambiguous as to whether the men and the women were coming closer to the narrator, or to each other. However, given the context of the situation, power of perception points to the likelihood of the man and the women coming closer to each other, since the road they were approaching was getting narrow and dark. Where language may sometimes mislead, perception has the power to correct the understanding because it interprets what the situation implies from its past experience. Furthermore, even without the aid of any form of language, perception enables one to save another human being from fatal accidents such as being hit by a speeding car, or accidentally slipping down the stairs. Thus perception, more than language is likely to lead to an understanding of the truth. Conclusion The concept of truth is abstract and there has been not single definition for what is the nature of truth. Various philosophers have theorized it differently; however, Plato has theorized that knowledge is nothing but, ‘justified true belief’. Empiricism and Rationalism are two theories that hold that knowledge is experiential and logical respectively. The four ways of knowing viz. perception, reason, language and emotion, all have their strengths and weaknesses. Albeit, it can be said that as compared to language, perception has more advantages and merits that make it more likely to lead one to the understanding of truth, because of its collective nature. The potential use of perception as a human resource management tool for successful leadership, and management programmes, becoming popular in recent times, vouch for its superiority. List of Works Cited Berger, John. Ways of Seeing (1991). Penguin Group Publishers, USA. (p 7). Bacon, Francis. ‘Of Truth’ (1601) in Essays of Francis Bacon website last updated in July 1997. Retrieved November 21, 2007. ChangingMinds.Org “Types of reasoning” Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/types_reasoning/types_reasoning.htm Elster, Jon (1996), Rationality and the Emotions, The Economic Journal, 106 (438) : 1386-1397 Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://culturalheritage.ceistorvergata.it/virtual_library/Art.%20%20Rationality%20and%2 0emotions%20-%20J.%20ELSTER.pdf Geoff Haselhurst, June 2007 “On Truth & Reality” in The Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter (WSM) in Space Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy.htm Holt, Tim. “Tripartite Theory of Knowledge” in Theory of Knowledge .info Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.theoryofknowledge.info/tripartite.html Holt, Tim. “Sources of Knowledge” in Theory of Knowledge .info Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.theoryofknowledge.info/sourcesofknowledge.html IB Vantaa School. ”Perception” Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/filosofia/uusi_sivu_259.htm IB Vantaa School. ”Reasoning” Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/filosofia/uusi_sivu_258.htm IB Vantaa School. ”Reasoning” Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007 http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/filosofia/uusi_sivu_260.htm IB Vantaa School. ”Reasoning” Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007 http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/filosofia/uusi_sivu_255.htm Reading For Philosophical Inquiry: A Brief Introduction. Online article Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/introbook.pdf Russell, Bertrand. "Truth and Falsehood" in his Problems of Philosophy Retrieved November 21, 2007. http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/Theory%20of%20Knowledge%20- %20unit%205%20-%20Knowledge,%20Belief%20and%20Truth%20- %20Jan%202004.doc Southwell, Gareth. “Theory of Knowledge – Units 2, 3, 4 and 5” in Philosophy Online Retrieved November 19, 2007. http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/Theory%20of%20Knowledge%20-%20unit%202%20-%20Rationalism%20-%20sept%202003.doc http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/Theory%20of%20Knowledge%20-%20unit%203%20-%20Empiricism%20sept%202003.doc http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/Theory%20of%20Knowledge%20-%20unit%204%20-%20Perception%20sept%202003.doc http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/tok/Theory%20of%20Knowledge%20-%20unit%205%20-%20Knowledge,%20Belief%20and%20Truth%20-%20Jan%202004.doc Read More