Understanding the Nature of Knowledge
Added on 2020-03-16
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Can knowledge be defined?IntroductionKnowledge can be defined as the comprehension, understanding or awareness of certain thoughts, facts or opinions. There is a number of things one needs to make sure of understanding before trying knowing whether one can define knowledge or not. In order to so this, one must seek to understand the meaning of "knowledge" and "define"."Define" is a verb which indicates how one can describe something or what it is that comprises the definition of something. Defining something can also be described as describing its definition. "Knowledge", on the other hand, is the attainment of facts, concepts, news or any thoughts or information in general.One of the reason for the disagreement on e definition of the knowledge is the philosophers and epistemologists which is also known as the criterion problem. [ CITATION Mor14 \l 1033 ]. This essay aims to understand whether one can define knowledge. It is imperative to understand what knowledge means and what the attainment of knowledge stands for. In addition to this, one must also know what it means to define something. It is only possible to define knowledge after knowing the meanings of these two termsDefining "Knowledge"We use knowledge in our everyday routine and it is known as the familiarity or awareness about various events, ideas and objects.[ CITATION Gre13 \l 1033 ]. In order for one to know whether knowledge is definable or whether has a definition, it is essential to be aware of the concept of epistemology. The study of all concepts of knowledge, its definition, validity and existence is comprised in the branch of epistemology. Epistemology is the name of the discipline that is normally derived from two Greek words episteme which means knowledge and logos which means a word or reason[ CITATION Pau11 \l 1033 ]. One can begin by trying to answer questions such as what exactly is knowledge and what does it take for one to know something or have the knowledge of something?In attempt to define knowledge, we must be able to see it from multiple aspects[ CITATION Anj14 \l1033 ]. Some people define knowledge as a mental state of being aware of things. But how is this
mental state different from the other mental states that a human being experiences in his lifetime such as fear, anger, sorrow, depression, happiness, calmness or excitement? One can begin by trying to categorize knowledge into different parts such as its different types. These types includeknowledge of facts, knowledge of people and knowledge of skill. Knowledge can be split into knowing what (propositional knowledge), knowing how (procedural knowledge) and knowing of(acquaintance)[ CITATION Ano94 \l 1033 ].Knowledge of facts entails the comprehension and understanding of certain theories, concepts, information, data and concepts. Knowledge of facts is essential in making an individual aware about a certain quality, characteristic or condition of something. An example could be the following. "Mr. A works at a construction company.” From the aforementioned example, one can know about the fact that it is a construction company where Mr. A works. One might not personally have to know Mr. A or know everything about Mr. A's life to know that he works in aconstruction company. The above example is factual in nature and therefore, can be categorized as the "knowledge of facts".Knowledge of people comprises of being acquainted to a certain individual, their habits, their qualities and their everyday life. This kind of knowledge of also comprises of the knowledge of places. Examples can include Mr. A knows Mr. B or Mr. A knows where Amsterdam is. Knowledge of skill relates to the acquired knowledge of how to perform a certain skill. Examplesinclude Mr. A knows how to drive a car or Mr. A knows how to operate a photocopy machine. Such knowledge is skill based.Analyzing Knowledge ConceptuallyAnalyzing anything conceptually entails in trying to arrive at such a definition of the term that it describes what is being talked about precisely and exactly. The definition does not leave any exceptions or ambiguity. The idea is to be able to form a definition by undertaking the below mentioned steps.The first steps entails the in depth analysis of what it is that one is trying to define. This includes description, and categorization of the thing. After analyzing, one must come up with a definition which precisely and concisely defines what one is talking about. Post this, one needs to ensure
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