Epistemology: Defining Knowledge, Sources, and Criteria

This assignment delves into the multifaceted concept of knowledge, beginning with its elusive definition and exploring various perspectives, including 'justified true belief'. It then outlines the criteria used to differentiate between true and false knowledge, emphasizing the conditions of truth, belief, and justification as proposed by Plato. The assignment further investigates the primary sources of knowledge, such as perception, reason, introspection, memory, and testimony, and how they contribute to our understanding. Finally, it discusses the process of knowledge building, highlighting ways to enhance and improve knowledge through mentorship, research, and expert guidance. This solution provides a comprehensive overview of key epistemological concepts.

Answer1. Knowledge is a very powerful concept, yet there is no clear definition of
knowledge. Knowledge is an awareness, understanding, or familiarity of something or
someone like descriptions, facts, skills, or information. Knowledge is also described as
practical or theoretical understanding of something. Some definitions of knowledge that are
adopted by researches describe knowledge as “justified true belief”. (Bolisani & Bratianu,
2017). Knowledge is defined as “the condition or fact of knowing something which is
justified through association and experiences”.
Answer2. There are several criteria defined to differentiate “true knowledge” from “false
knowledge”. All criteria of knowledge selection contradict each other, and there is no piece
of knowledge that can fulfil all criteria. But as described by Plato, a statement should fulfil
three criteria to get it considered knowledge (pespmc1, 2018). These criteria are a statement
should be justified, true, and believed.
1. Condition of Truth: this condition requires that if a proposition is known to someone
then that proposition must be true. And if in any the proposition is not true, then the
claim of person of knowing that proposition is not true. Therefore, condition of truth
makes a difference between knowledge and opinion.
2. Condition of Belief: in this condition, it is required that if someone knows a
proposition then he also believes in that proposition.
3. Condition of Justification: It demands a practical way to justify that the belief is true
that he has.
Answer3. Knowledge can be gained from anyone and from anywhere. But in epistemology,
the concern is common regarding knowledge is that what the sources that are capable of
providing knowledge are (Philosophy, 2018). Below are some of the major sources of
knowledge:

1. Perception: it is gained through the experiences of senses. Here, the view has some
experience and experience is the main source of knowledge. This knowledge is
considered as empiricism.
2. Reason: Here reason can be the source of knowledge either by eliminating truth from
knowledge that already exist or by discovering truths by pure reason. This kind of
knowledge where main source of knowledge is reason is known as rationalism.
3. Introspection: this knowledge is achieved through self-evaluation. It is generally
considered as a kind of perception.
4. Memory: this kind of knowledge is learnt in the past and it is storage of knowledge
whether it happened in the past or current information.
5. Testimony: This knowledge depends on others to gain knowledge and then
communicate this knowledge to us. However, some deny testimony as a source of
knowledge and force that the knowledge gained through testimony should be verified
Answer4. Knowledge is not confined only to education and there are number of ways
through which knowledge can be enhanced or improved. Knowledge building is a process
that creates new cognitive ideas. It enhances the current understanding of something beyond
the initial knowledge of something. Knowledge about something can be improved through
several ways such as a mentor, research, and experts can help in improving knowledge
(Entrepreneurshipinabox, 2018).

Bibliography
Bolisani, E., & Bratianu, C. (2017). The Elusive Definition of Knowledge. In Emergent
Knowledge Strategies (pp. 1-22). Cham: Springer.
Entrepreneurshipinabox. (2018). 5 STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS
KNOWLEDGE FAST. Retrieved from
https://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/11805/5-strategies-improve-knowledge-
business/
pespmc1. (2018). Knowledge Selection Criteria. Retrieved from
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/KNOWSELC.html
Philosophy. (2018). Sources of Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.philosophy-
index.com/epistemology/sources/