The basic discussion about knowledge in Philosophy

1. Jamsheed Raza
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01 What is Knowledge
02 Your preferred way of knowing
03 Appropriate way of knowing for your area of research

2. What is knowledge

3. What is knowledge
 A single, simple and “substantially agreed upon” definition of knowledge is still
awaited.
 However, for the purpose of this discussion I find the following as most appropriate
definition
“Knowledge is a type of belief that is distinct from opinion or guesswork by virtue
of justification.
A familiarity or awareness, of someone or something, such as facts (descriptive
knowledge), skills (procedural knowledge), or objects (acquaintance knowledge)
contributing to ones understanding.”
Grimm, Stephen R. (2014)

4. What is knowledge
For this course, we might be interested in categorizing knowledge into:
- Personal Knowledge – Depends crucially on the experiences of a particular individual.
It is gained through experience, practice and personal involvement and is bound up with the
particular local circumstances of the individual such as biography, interests, values, and so on.
Influenced by an individual’s personal perspective.
Personal knowledge therefore includes what might be described as skills, practical abilities and
individual talents. Knowledge of how to do something : play the piano, ride a bicycle, paint a
portrait, so on.

5. What is knowledge
- Shared Knowledge - Highly structured, systematic in its nature and the product of more
than one individual. Much of it is bound together into more or less distinct areas of k
nowledge.
While individuals contribute to it, shared knowledge does not depend only upon the
contributions of a particular individual—there are possibilities for others to check and
amend individual contributions and add to the body of knowledge that already exists.

6. What is knowledge
Links between shared and personal knowledge
Clearly there are links and interactions between shared knowledge and personal knowledge.
Albert Einstein contributed much to modern physics. Clearly, he had some personal qualities
that enabled him to see further than some of his peers.
He had personal knowledge, a way of looking at things perhaps, that he was able to use to
propel his exploration of the difficult questions.
But his insights had to go through a thorough process of review before being accepted as part of
the shared body of knowledge that is the discipline of physics.

7. Way of knowing

8. Way of knowing
Ways of Knowing Explanation
Language A system of signs (letter, symbols, sounds, etc.) with agreed or
conventional meanings combined for the purposes of communication,
formulation of ideas, storage of knowledge or as a medium of thought.
Problems: Ambiguity, sarcasm, irony, translation issues, etc.
Sense Perception Sense perception is the process by which we can gain knowledge about t
he outside world. Sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing.
Emotion You know certain things because you feel them emotionally. You know
that certain things are ethically not right.
- Naturalistic view – a natural process with physiological cause & effect.
- Culturally bound emotions – emotions are product of cultural construct

9. Way of knowing
Ways of Knowing Explanation
Reason Drawing logical inference based on rules, systems, etc. Justification of
events, conclusions, statements, etc.
Imagination Capacity to form a mental representation of something without the
stimulus of sense experience.
Faith Here faith is referred in both senses, religious (following particular
religion) and secular (humanism).
Intuition Known without understanding how they are known.
Memory Memory (previous experiences / knowledge) plays a vital role in how our
personal knowledge is formed.

10. Preferred way of
knowing for area of
research

11. Preferred way of knowing - Area of research
Knowledge framework
One effective way to examine the Area of Knowledge (AOK) is through a knowledge framework.
A knowledge framework is a way of unpacking the AOKs and provides a vocabulary for comparing AOKs.
For each AOK the following can be examined:
• scope, motivation and applications
• specific terminology and concepts
• methods used to produce knowledge
• key historical developments
• interaction with personal knowledge

12. Preferred way of knowing - Area of research
Areas of Knowledge :
• mathematics
• natural sciences
• Human sciences
• history
• the arts
• ethics
• religious knowledge systems
• indigenous knowledge systems.

13. Ways of knowing
The ways of knowing
do not operate in
isolation

14. Preferred way of knowing - Area of research
• Interviews – Open ended Questions / Answer
Text  Coding  Themes
• Survey Questionnaire – Closed ended questions / answers
Numerical Data  Analysis  Interpretation

15. Preferred way of knowing
Human
Resources
Reason
Language
Memory
Faith
Intuition
Imagination
Emotion
Sense Perception

16. Thank you

17. Thank you ..