Today’s Difficult Question
What is knowledge?
posted by SocraticFool | 9:04 AM
Socratic Corner
Wisdom is sometimes known for what it does not say and sometimes it is known only when it admits that it does not know what it once thought it did.
About Me
- Name: Bryan
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
I am an undergraduate student in humanities currently at Criswell College. I Enjoy a good discussion.
12 Comments:
Seeing as how you are more 'knowledgeable' than I, and therefore more acquainted with the specific item seeking definition, I think it would be more prudent for you to answer the question. :)
That was the sofyst way of saying, 'I dunno, what is it?'
Knowledge is the belief of what is true. BTW I still don’t know what to do with the last hard question! ;-)
yeah, Bryan. You took my advice on posting and ran wild with it. You still have to have some kind of input in the convesation, you can't just through questions out. :) Well, you can, but where's fun in it?
Knowledge is whatever I want it to be- Knowledge is the color blue and nobody can prove me wrong.
If noone can prove you wrong then how can you somone prove yourself right ?
"The belief of what is true" is an inadequate definition of knowledge. I can have knowledge of untrue things, and even believe that they are true. Knowledge is better defined as the cumulation of truth and un-truth. knowledge is (in essence) data. Discernment and wisdom are needed to make use of data. I have knowledge of very advanced mathematical hypothesis and scientific theories, but without working through them the knowledge is essentially useless, but it is still knowledge. I know great amounts of information and data concerning cloning by nuclear transfer, I even understand most of it ;) But the knowledge is not beneficial to me without the ability to think through it and how the use of such technology could benefit/hurt mankind.
I also have knowledge of darwinian evolution, I believe it is untrue (based on Scripture I know it is untrue), but it is still knowledge that I have.
I would rather argue this point with anybody other than nobody! ;-)
Data, theory, opinion and conjecture are all information. You may posses great volumes of information and yet know nothing at all.
Yes, well later you can tell all your friends that you got in a debate with nobody and won, at least they will believe you.
Possessing great volumes of information is knowing something, specifically you know all that data, theory, opinion and conjecture. What you do with that knowledge is beyond simply knowing, dealing with the correlational aspects of knowledge, categorizing it, and finally using it to gain more knowledge is better defined as wisdom or understanding. The people who possess all the information and "know" nothing, are people who do not have wisdom, but they still possess information.
A second attack on your statement is made by the ambiguous idea of possessing information, what does possession of information mean if not the acceptance that they know the information? Is info. a possession that we can purchase and hold like a PC, or is it a stock that we can trade on the market? Information is not a tangible item, it is intangible - certainly it can be purchased, but you cannot "hold" information in the physical way that I hold my laptop. Therefore to posses information must also imply the knowledge or knowing of information.
A final attack - Knowledge is not equivalent to truth. "The belief of what is, that it is" according to Aristotle is truth, belief of what is true is taking the previous statement one step further. A belief of what is not true, is an untrue belief. Catholicism has many untrue beliefs, but Catholocism has a lot of knowledge concerning their untrue beliefs.
They might surely believe I could win a debate with nobody but how will they feel when I tell them I want nobody for a friend???
Reason and logic may well lead to an understanding of many things just as I can understand, given enough information, many of the Roman Catholic beliefs and still I can only suspect why they believe it. I cannot know and I cannot know a lie is true. If I trust in my own understanding for knowledge then my faith is in myself. I am a humanist. If I instead accept my understanding is dim and trust in what I know then my faith is in God through the revelation of Jesus as Christ. I am a believer. All else is only a suspicion based on my own perception or understanding of my experience and the information I posses. I can claim to know precious little, only to have an understanding.
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