Jason Stanley's Theory: The Misunderstandings Of Knowledge

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The Misunderstandings of Knowledge

If one were to open up a thesaurus, he or she would find that the word theoretical is synonymous to knowledge-based notion and academia, while the word practical lays equivalent to empirical thought and heuristics. The distinction between the two concepts’ definitions suggests that a person would not be able to identify with both words. One is strictly based in pure logic and ideology. The other finds itself confided within the walls of actuality and evidential and easily understood products. Jason Stanley, a philosopher and Yale professor, discussed in a Stone article the meaning of both practical and theoretical knowledge and how society has miscalculated the divide between the two concepts.
Stanley begins …show more content…

Stanley’s reasoning operates under the concept that the division of theoretical and practical comprehension was created in order to make it easier to differentiate people and groups within a society. While I have some hesitation on the accuracy of his overall outlook, he defends his view that practical and theoretical knowledge are not polar opposites with some insightful and convincing points that I agreed with. Stanley’s sturdy argument of this is displayed strongly in his idea that both practical and theoretical skill is acquired through learning. Practical knowledge is regarded as somewhat instinctual when theoretical knowledge is seen as instructional. In the practical skill of cleaning, for example, one does not think of how to vacuum the floor prior to performing the act. This seems contrary to a person operating on theoretical knowledge, like a mathematician searching for the existence of an infinity plus one, who must follow a fixed instruction manual explaining how to execute a skill. However, both require a process of erudition. A child will wishfully watch his or her mother vacuum the floor, studying the movements until they can emulate the same movements without thought. A mathematician will have to acquire the knowledge of what two plus two is before and learn up from there in order to study the theory of numbers greater than

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