The Concept of Knowledge - Assignment Example

Name Institution Tutor Date due BRIEF INTRODUCTION The concept of knowledge has been associated with awareness of the familiarity of things, places and persons. Knowledge is the competence of variety of performances, possession of facts and other claims believed to be true. Knowledge forms a necessary dimension of education. Knowledge should be acquired from an active process that involves the transformation of learner’s cognitive orientation known as education. There are diverse sources of knowledge. Among these sources of knowledge include: Five common senses-(the empirical foundations of human knowledge) Through these five senses –sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste- we have immediate knowledge through physical contact with the environment. Reason- through reason, we are able to interpret and transcribe raw sense data into something reasonable. Ideas about certain things are created. (Rational foundations of human knowledge). THE EMPIRICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE Empirical comes from a Greek word ‘eimpeiria’ which means physical or visible through the senses. Empiricism is the study of things visibly through our senses. Empiricists hold the perception of “to be” which means to be perceived through our senses. Empiricists believe that human knowledge is acquired and can only be verified through the use of senses. To the empiricists, it is not possible to reason except about things we have observed through our senses (Dean, 2005). Through the senses, we have an immediate interaction with the physical environment. If we are denied our senses, it would be impossible to know as well as reason. Empiricism refers to that philosophical position that takes the senses to be the primary source of knowledge. Sensory experience rather than reason is the fundamental source of knowledge. This view argues that the environment is the foundation of human knowledge. According to empiricists, the child is born with tabula rasa (empty slate). The more the child encounters the physical environment around it through the senses, the more knowledge it acquires. Without physical environment our knowledge will be limited (Nidditch, 2001). If the environment is rich in objects, then the knowledge of the individual will be enriched. However, although the rationalists hold that we are born with inborn innate ideas- we hold the capacity to know-the empiricists hold the view that all knowledge is acquired through the senses and immediate contact with external environment. Therefore, reason grown in knowledge is the interpretation of raw sense data. The sense organs-eye, ear, tongue, nose, skin-capture stimulus; sense data for example, taste of sugar, sight of car, noise of birds but cannot interpret what sense data is. It is the role of reason to interpret, transcribe the raw sense data into something reasonable. This therefore means without raw sense data upon which the mind acts, reason would otherwise not generate any knowledge. The role of reason is to subordinate the inferior to that of the senses in the process of knowledge acquisition and verification. Knowledge is therefore acquired and verified through observation and sense experience because all knowledge is empirical. John Locke’s essay (1690) argues that the source of human knowledge is the senses opposing strongly the view of innate ides by the rationalists (Nidditch, 2001). CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION Education should be in a position to provide learners with experiences which enrich their empirical data by using teaching and learning aids like field trips. Use of laboratories is also useful in teaching empirical sciences. Learners should be encouraged to learn by doing not just listening. Man experiences things through the five senses. Man shares this level of consciousness attained with the animals. At times, some of animals outdo man in the empirical level. For instance, the sniffer dogs are able to detect danger more than man can. THE RATIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE Rationalism is derived from the Latin word ‘rationis’ which means of mind, a mental being or that which only exist in the mind. Rationalists are philosophers who ascribe to a school of thought which states that the mind is primary in the process of acquisition and verification of knowledge. Rationalism is therefore the philosophical condition that all knowledge is rational in nature- based on reason. Knowledge implies assimilating new ideas into one’s cognitive systems. This means that the new ideas become part of one’s cognitive content. In order to accept new ideas as part of one’s cognitive content, these ideas must be justified. On the other hand, Justification is the process of establishing grounds upon which knowledge is established to be truthful. Justification is the rational process that makes beliefs, propositions, and knowledge claims possible and well grounded. To claim or to verify that a belief is factful, it requires the mind to discriminate between falseful and truthful claims. To the rationalists, human reason is a primary instrument for validating or verifying beliefs. Reason is fundamental to human cognitive life- knowledge and understanding is mental activities for example knowledge finds expression in the ability to make abstract conclusions from concrete ones and to make logical deductions and clear illusions in our sensory perceptions. Reason is both an instrument of knowledge acquisition or verifying and correcting deceptions. Reason makes the sense data intelligible and desirable. It creates meaning and gives order to the sense data (Collins, 2000). Sense perception is not a naked encounter between the senses and objects of sense perceptions. Rather, it is an experience that is meaningful and intelligible become reason has been applied to interpret the raw sense data. As such, reason is not a passive element of cognition but an active agent of human knowledge. Our knowledge is acquired, constructed and verified on the basis of rational instruments that human beings possess. Descartes (1596–1650) believed that the knowledge of truth could only be attained through reason (Veitch, 2009). Through doubt, we are able question the reality and it this through reasoning we acquire knowledge. In his work of principles of philosophy, he finds a solution to the acquisition of knowledge and truth with nothing else but with intellect or reasoning. He claims that this form of knowledge has nothing to do with the sensory experiences of human kind. Truth is only accomplished by reason which is a deductive process which brings out clear reality of happenings. Basically, Descartes argues that reason can not only determine knowledge which self governs itself from the sense-based experience but also argue out to prove certain truths (Veitch, 2009). A person ought to undergo through various mind tests and meditations in order to get the truth and acquire knowledge. If one reasons about something that he or she cannot see or hear, an idea about the same is created in the mind and knowledge acquired through intellect. He continues to say that there is a clear distinction between the body, mind and soul. The basic aim of meditations is to reconceptualize the world- physical world- as a place managed by laws of nature like motion, gravity and through reason these forces can be understood by human beings. The senses only provide limited information on the physical world. If intellect works independently of the senses so much information can be discovered. For one to have exact information on any area of study, reason has to apply in order to have a wide range of deductions and conclusions. CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION Education is a rational experience which entails learning to reason, think, and understand and to see and interpret thongs in a meaningful and intelligent way. Education initiates learners into rational structures within which reality is recognized and interpreted. When an education system inclines towards rationalism, the following features will be observed; The teacher-centered method will be used or the expository method like the lecture method and memory work. Few / minimal teaching learning resources will be used Interaction among students will be minimal. The science subjects will not be emphasized unlike subjects like history, literature, ethics and arts. The rationalists are concerned with making judgments. These judgments are aided by the use of reasoning or giving evidences and justifications. Human beings begin to explain their place in this world by giving meaning to the world. This helps us make us choices and decisions thus live a purposeful life. These decisions are made in the quest to overcome certain limitations. For instance we can rub the chalkboard with the use of a duster in turn avoiding the inconvenience of not writing on the same chalkboard. GENERAL CONCLUSION The paper discusses in detail the empiricist and rationalist approaches to knowledge. One of the Empiricist discussed is John Locke while Rene Descartes supports the rationalist approach. John Locke supports that human knowledge is acquired and can only be verified through the use of senses. According to him, it is not possible to reason except about things we have observed through our senses. On the other hand, René Descartes argues that human reason is a primary instrument for validating or verifying beliefs. References Collins, A. (2000). Discourse of Free Thinking, An Essay Concerning the Use of Reason. Garland Press: New York Dean, W. (2005). American religious empiricism. Suny Press: New York. Nidditch, P. H. (2001). An Essay concerning Human Understanding by John Locke. Oxford University Press: Clarendon Veitch, J. (2009) The Rationalists: René Descartes translated by: Discourse on method, Meditations. Doubleday Publishers: Pennsylvania. Read More