Imagination vs Knowledge in Theory of Knowledge - Essay Example

     Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge The debate on knowledge versus imagination points towards a regularsubject in human beings. The early dichotomy between what individuals dream, sense through instinct, intuit, or imagine, and what people know is established, in a way, in all areas of human beings rational activities. It is evident in the difference between mystic and rationalist views of world religions, between surrealism and realism in the visual arts and between the data from experimental physics and abstractions of membrane and superstring theory. This is a response paper on Albert Einstein’s statement on knowledge and imagination. I agree with Albert Einstein’s statement that imagination is more important than knowledge. This is because knowledge has a limit while imagination goes beyond limits. Geniuses and artists have frequently been on the side of imagination. Nonetheless, knowledge is stable, logical, and conservative. Knowledge is mainly used by people in professions, for example, accountants and curators. There are many brilliant artists who had long periods of training for them to achieve their status. There are also many highly creative accountants and tremendously exciting designed museums, and despite this requiring knowledge, all of them depend on imagination to be noticed. Knowledge acts as a method of obtaining imagination (Adam 21). Moreover, knowledge and imagination function independently in the human mental activity. Imagination entails creating a mental conception of something that is not available to the human senses. For example, a person can create a mental view of what he or she has drunk at a hotel, even if the thought does not exist in any of the senses. Imagination is anything that is beyond memory. Knowledge is concerned with events or activities that are available to the senses. In addition, knowledge is a kept and distributed storage area of collectively accepted thoughts. Much of knowledge is stored in physical signs, spoken or written, transmitted through space and time. Moreover, knowledge can be stored, coded, and conveyed through symbols. This is because symbol systems are flexible. These symbol systems can be separated and combined in a number of innovative combinations (Adam 29). An increase in memory causes an increase in things human beings have to work with, therefore, facilitating imagination. Despite knowledge leading to imagination, imagination brings out the best in an idea or innovation. However, imagination is not merely the combination of accumulated encounters like knowledge. These combinations occur every time in individuals and creatures with less cortex than humans. Human beings are distinguished from each other on the basis of individuals’ ability to control and interpret what they know. Knowledge is used as a survival tactic. Knowledge assists people to anticipate challenges, look for alternatives and deal with issues (Adam 34). Nonetheless, imagination has been turned into an essential tool. Like basic commodities, human beings use imagination to satisfy basic needs, get distracted from realities, display status and wealth, and strengthen social bonds. Another way of determining whether imagination is more essential than knowledge is by considering each of them as public or private. Knowledge is a public phenomenon, for instance, language results from knowledge. Language requires compromise on the use of its symbols and signs so as to preserve consistency in meaning, with time. In addition, knowledge must be established on the basis of experience in a manner that can be replicated by other people. On the other hand, imagination is a private concept. Imagination is a soar of a person’s brain from a recognized detail to a thrilling innovation. Knowledge can be used to intensify the bonds of a group, but the development of fresh knowledge, for example, in the sciences can cause a threat to the existence of a group (Adam 36). On the contrary, imagination can be used to challenge traditions and rules by combining information in creative ways. Also, collective actions of imagination can assist to intensify bonds within the groups. For example, imagination permits an individual to create a consistent story of invention. It allows a person to follow an invention from start to finish. Knowledge cannot help a person cope with complex realities (Adam 48). In contrast, people prefer imagination when the realities extend. A level of political stability, wealth, and leisure is a product of freedom necessary for innovation and/or the utilization of inventive creations as signs of social status. People in a community use collective knowledge, depicted as tradition or culture, to get information about changes occurring in a society and protecting the society. There is debate on the nature of knowledge between epistemological internalists and epistemological externalists. The epistemological internalists argue that all conditions for generating knowledge are contained in the individuals’ psychological states. In contrast, epistemological externalists presume outside factors of individuals’ psychological state may be knowledge conditions (Adam 64). For example, an epistemological externalist may argue that for a belief to be considered as knowledge, it must be instigated, in a right a manner, by pertinent facts. This means that any causation that is exterior to mind is an external knowledge producing situation. Conversely, imagination assists in providing comprehension to knowledge and meaning to incidents. Imagination is an essential ability that assists individuals to understand the world and holds a key responsibility in the process of learning. Knowledge requires a person to experience events and see things in a distinct and clear manner. It also needs persons to employ their capabilities in a careful and correct manner via practical doubt. This shows the restrictions coupled with knowledge (Adam 67). This makes it less essential than imagination. Imagination is independent of exterior limitations. Frequently, imagination can be a source of unnecessary trouble and a real pleasure. Consistently, a person imagining fearful and pleasurable situations engages emotional cycles concerned with emotional experience and perception. An individual with clear imagination frequently has the possibility of developing tremendous creations. In contrast, an individual with knowledge and without imagination cannot experience emotional perception and experience. This is because knowledge must be established on the basis of experience in a manner that can be replicated by other people. Theories of knowledge also ascertain that knowledge is not flexible as imagination (Adam 101). Skepticism refutes the probability of a genuine or complete knowledge of an impartial universe, that is, of a universe separate from a person or his experience. This may question the probability of self knowledge and restrict knowledge to data and information, for example, a person believes he is the only one who exists because he is not aware of others or their ideas. Imagination is considered better than knowledge because it is flexible. Imagination allows a person to look beyond himself or his ideas. Subjectivism claims that because knowledge is restricted to a person’s ideas, it is not possible to progress past these views to a material or objective reality independent and discrete of the person. Imagination disputes this notion because it allows a person to be separated from his views to a reality past the person. Objectivism holds that objects are not tied to the mind and bestow their components to the person through data sense. Sense data and things known are perceived to be one. Imagination can either tie objects to the owner’s mind or not. Imagination allows one to be accommodating. Critical realism assigns a key responsibility to mind in creating knowledge. Nonetheless, things known or objects in critical realism are separated from the owner or owner’s mind in the way thought refers to them. This view holds that ideas correspond to or represent objects in an unconstrained world. Material things are understood through sense data. Phenomenalism argues that knowledge is restricted to the probable or total of sense data. This may comprise sense data derived from inner occurrences like dreams and feelings (Adam 113). Conversely, imagination does not require inference from sense data. Work Cited Adam, M. A Guide through the Theory of Knowledge (3rd ed.). New York: Blackwell Publishing, 2002. Print. Read More