Knowledge plays a significant role in all aspects of our lives. It’s facts, information, and skills that are obtained by a person through experience and education. Annie Dillard and Sven Birkerts explore the theory of knowledge, otherwise known as epistemology in their essays “Seeing” and “The Owl Has Flown.” The knowledge we gain contributes to the outcome of our lives, but only we can come to that conclusion with how we interpret this knowledge.
In Annie Dillard’s Essay “Seeing” she describes her beliefs about how people become aware of their knowledge and how the proper perception can provide someone with a greater understanding and appreciation of the world we live in. This appreciation and understanding of knowledge is her answer how to live a fortunate and meaningful life. Dillard supports her beliefs by telling the story of when she was a small child she used to hide pennies leaving a trail of clues for people to find them. “The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited about a mere penny” (Dillard, 39)? When someone sees a sign that says MONEY THIS WAY they are expecting at least a couple dollars not a single penny. (Dillard, 40) After reading this I found it strange as to why anyone would be disappointed for only finding a penny. Yes, they probably got their hopes up hoping to find a million dollars, but shouldn’t the fact that someone was thinking of them hoping for them to smile be enough? People are let down and disappointed in reality because they are expecting to see what they want to see. They are not walking into a situation open minded appreciative of whatever they will find. Growing up we are constantly learning as children, ...
... middle of paper ...
...y or extensively, all that matters is what we as individuals make of it. Only you can choose your outcome. Only you can choose to open your mind, and only you can learn from it. Life will flash by in the blink of an eye. There is no time to waist not truly understanding and appreciating the world we live in. Life is a day-to-day journey and you should live each and every one as if it was your last. So take the time to read that book at least one more time, even if you don’t like so that one day that knowledge you gain can help you later in life. And the next time you seek out something you can’t find, stop looking for what your looking for and it just might appear.
Works Cited
Birkerts, Sven. "The Owl Has Flown." Think Vertically! Southlake: Fountainhead, 2012. 29-36.
Print.
Dillard, Annie. "Seeing." Think Vertically! Southlake: Fountainhead, 2012. 39-55. Print.
The book makes me understand the importance of reading and know how weak I’m in reading comprehension. Not only is my reading speed slow, but also my thoughts after reading are immature. I haven’t fix some time to read English books before so my background knowledge and vocabulary are far from abundant.
...more involved with the reading in this course, I understand the political undertones, religious themes, and the cultural awareness that I need in order to fully comprehend the meaning the authors convey. I believe it will be a challenge, but I will have a new perspective as well as new expectations as I continue reading literary masterpieces.
This essay starts with definition of traditional epistemology, followed by an explanation of how class, gender, and race can affect what one can know. Traditional epistemology can be defined as all knowers, regardless of who you are or what your social situation is, are bound by the same cognitive norms. (lecture) Charles Mills however, in the article “Alternative Epistemologies”, argues that who you are and your social situation change your access to knowledge. He criticizes that traditional epistemology fails to consider how an individual’s social situation can affect what he can know. Those in non-dominant social groups have epistemic access especially for knowing about oppression. In this essay I will attempt to explain Mills argument
The quest for knowledge, a topic often contemplated in philosophy, remains persistent with mankind seeking to understand the uncertainty in the world surrounding him. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that raises questions and provides answers about what constitutes knowledge and justifies belief. The main concerns of knowledge in epistemology are how it is defined, what the source is, how it’s acquired, what its limitations are, and what kind of knowledge is necessary. Three very well known philosophers of their time offer their different ideas on the subject of knowledge and epistemology.
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge. It is mainly concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It attempts to answer the basic question of what distinguishes true or adequate knowledge from otherwise false or inadequate knowledge (Heylighen). The major branches of epistemological theory are rationalism, empiricism and mysticism. Rationalism implies that knowledge is obtained through reason and introspection. Ones ideas are justified by sense experience, but if the senses and intuition are in conflict, the sensory evidence must be discarded. In empiricism, knowledge is obtained through observation and experiment. Models and theories may be used to organize this sensory experience, but if theories contradict experience they are wrong. In mysticism, knowledge is obtained through faith, emotions or revelation but if observation or intuition contradict, the knowledge is thus deemed wrong (“Rationalism”). Doubt, as a Persian Proverb once said, is the key to knowledge. It is one of the influencing factors in the expansion of knowledge. A fact that is conside...
In her essay “Seeing”, Annie Dillard focuses on showing how different people have different perceptions. Dillard gives multiple examples to support her main idea, which is that preconceived and inherited notions influence our perceptions. Dillard discusses the different ways of seeing, how people with different backgrounds have different experiences with seeing, and many more. While Dillard’s idea about perceptions is definitely relevant and accurate, but are certainly not complete as there are multiple things that influence our perceptions.
First of all, I demonstrate that epistemology is the study of all that encompasses knowledge. Furthermore, I support the traditional epistemological concept of justified true belief by arguing that this model is largely relied on in the expectations of current empirical data.
Our knowledge is a key to our success and happiness in our life to give us personal satisfaction. Knowledge is power but not always. Sometimes our self-awareness and growth as an individual gives us negative thoughts that make us want to go back to undo it. Everyone wants to unlearn a part in our life that brought us pain and problems. Good or bad experiences brought by true wisdom can be used for our self-acceptance, self-fulfillment and these experiences would make us stronger as we walk to the road of our so called “life”, but Douglas’s and my experience about knowledge confirmed his belief that “Knowledge is a curse”. Both of us felt frustrated and sad from learning knowledge.
In the world of science there are many discoveries. “A discovery is like falling in love and reaching the top of a mountain after a hard climb all in one, an ecstasy not induced by drugs but by the revelation of a face of nature … and that often turns out to be more subtle and wonderful than anyone had imagined.” (Ferdinand Puretz). Most people in the world we live in lack to notice and or appreciate the gift of sight in life. By not cherishing the gift of sight and using it properly, many discoveries are left unfound. In the writing piece, Seeing, Annie Dillard speaks of nature and the small things that we all are unconsciously blind to and not appreciative of. Seeing explores the idea of what it means to truly see things in this world. Annie Dillard’s main point is that we should view the world with less of a meddling eye, so that we are able to capture things that would otherwise go unnoticed. There’s a science to how we view things in nature. Dillard attempts to persuade her reader to adopt to her way of seeing, which is more artificial rather than natural.
So to say, knowledge can either make or break a person. It can act as a benefit, for power, or loss, for ignorance. “Do not take for granted what you know. Ask yourself how you know what you know; ask yourself whom it benefits, whom it hurts and why.” (Blackboard: Knowledge is Power)
Wolman, D. (2010). Want to Help Developing Countries? Sell Them Good Stuff — Cheap. Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/2010/09/st_essay_pennies/
"Knowledge, Truth, and Meaning." Cover: Human Knowledge: Foundations and Limits. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .
The message to value more important things in order to have a wisely spent life is demonstrated very well through literary devices in “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant. Madame undergoes an ironic moment in life as she learns what is worth valuing. She is a very greedy woman who only cares about herself. The reader would never think of her as the person to do work, but that thought changes as she misplaces what she thinks of as a valuable item. If Madame just learned how to live life in a way that will not make her upset and to value things that are valuable towards life instead of expenses, she will be better off. But this is how Madame views her life, while others take notice of the significance in their lives. Values are different towards people across the world, and Guy de Maupassant defines that in his short story, “The Necklace”.
Interpretive epistemology, which stems from idealist ontology, asserts that the world is made up of ideas: about oneself, others, society, or nature (Giacomini, ...
Philosophy covers a wide range of fundamental problems where it branches out to areas such as language, ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, logic, or epistemology – the theory of knowledge. For years, philosophers have analyzed and questions what knowledge is, its value, sources, structure, and whether we know anything at all. Epistemology questions what knowledge is and how we as humans can acquire it – which involves much debate. Though our understanding of knowledge is ambiguous, we do know that knowledge is justified, true belief.