Introduction
This statement raises two questions, such as: Does knowledge always produce both meaning and purpose? Are there any cases where knowledge diminishes either meaning or purpose in our lives?; which I will analyze in terms of ethics and natural sciences.
In this essay I shall attempt to show that I only partly agree with this statement, show the limitation and the weakness of this statement using some examples gained through my empirical knowledge.
Development
In order to fully understand this statement, which is going to be discussed further along, it is useful to make clear how I personally interpret the key terms within the statement. Key terms are whole, knowledge, meaning, purpose and personal life.
My interpretation of ‘the
…show more content…
Knowledge is something intangible. What makes it different from emotions though? It is said that for example love is just a chain of chemical reactions in the brain, but knowledge is just the same.
I believe that the key thing that makes it different is its necessity. I think that in order to be able to maintain some kind of a system within the society, knowledge is needed. The point of knowledge is to provide us a tool to reach further goals in life. Knowledge is something that makes us different from all the other organisms on the planet.
I prefer to define knowledge as a process of learning rather than an outcome. I think that the process of learning, the personal experience is what shapes the person rather than the knowledge itself.
I interpret ‘our personal lives’ as referring to all the experience gained through the course of an individual’s life rather than on a more generalized level.
Finally, I interpret ‘meaning’ as a value personally significant to an individual and ‘purpose’ as aim/direction in an individual’s
…show more content…
They went against social expectation and said their honest opinion. I believe this was a way of easing their mental discomfort. While promoting honesty, they actually fulfilled their mission of showing us a more honest and healthy way of living. The whole concept is very paradoxical.
Through this example it was demonstrated that knowledge does not always add to our personal lives. On the contrary, sometimes it diminishes the meaning of our life.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I do agree with the statement to an extent that most of the time knowledge produces both meaning and purpose in our lives. As I emphasized earlier, the key words in the statement make the trueness of the statement arguable, therefore I do not fully agree. As shown through examples throughout the whole essay, I believe that there is another point of knowledge, that there are some cases when it does not produce both meaning and purpose, and that sometimes it even leads to the diminishment of either meaning or
There is no concrete definition of knowledge, but there is a definition that is widely agreed upon, or a standard definition. This definition may be widely accepted, but just like most things in philosophy, it is controversial and many disagree with it. The definition involves three conditions that must be met in order for one to truly say that they know something to be true. If one were to state: “The Seattle Mariners have never won a world series,” using the standard definition would look like this: first, the person believes the statement to be true. Second, the statement is in fact true. Third, the person is justified in believing the statement to be true. The three conditions are belief, truth, and justification. There are the “necessary and sufficient conditions” for knowledge. Necessary and sufficient conditions are linked to conditional statements, ‘if x, then y’ statements.
The nature of knowledge is either relative or absolute. I feel that the nature of knowledge is relative. I believe, as Rousseau does in that each person needs to construct his or her own knowledge rather than memorizing something. I think it is important to learn from experience, not just learn from memorizing a map, or memorizing science or geography. People need to create their own knowledge and they can do this by learning from experience. I myself always found it easier to learn from my own experiences rather than to sit and try to memorize something and then apply it.
Throughout our lives, we 're told that knowledge is power. However, does knowledge alone achieve this? In the book, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, the main character, Tony, gains knowledge. In the beginning, he learns through his dependency on Adrian, his classmate. However, as he moves into his twenties, his learning stagnates. He 's peaceable to a point he seems spiritless but also too stubborn to change his original beliefs. It 's not until he wants to understand why Sarah, his ex-girlfriend 's mother, left him money and Adrian 's diary, that he actively pursues knowledge, helping him realize that his life may not be as black and white as he had thought. The evolution of Tony shows that a person needs to have an open mind in
Knowledge can take many forms. Knowledge can range from being an expert mathematician to learning to count to ten. In all forms, it has significance. Yet, with knowledge comes some consequence. Many have said that knowledge is both a curse and a blessing--a true statement as there are consequences for the pursuit of knowledge.
All men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight”. This is the foundation of human knowledge Aristotle presents us with in Book Alpha of the Metaphysics. The next question which we must naturally ask ourselves is, How? How is it that we can have any knowledge at all? We by our very nature desire to know and we
People believe that they are “wise” when they “know” something. A common member of society most often feels that knowledge enables people to feel powerful and misknowledge shows a certain weakness. Thurman explained, “Being right means that the world affirms us in what we think we know. ‘Knowing’ something is a way of controlling it, being able to put it in its proper place in relation to us so that we can use it effectively… So, knowledge is power, in the sense that it empowers us to act successfully. Misknowledge… is weakness, in the sense that our action may fail in their aim, backfire, or have unintended consequences. Knowledge is security, in that we know our vulnerabilities and can avoid harm. Misknowledge is danger, in that we don 't know what others might do to us or what traps may await us. We therefore feel powerful and secure when were right, weak and vulnerable when were wrong” (Thurman 446). Thurman took a distinctive approach and taught that not knowing meant obtaining freedom and achieving wisdom. Thurman taught, “… the Buddha discovered that this most certain knowledge of the ‘self’ is actually ‘misknowledge’—a fundamental misunderstanding, a delusion. And what 's more, he realized that this discovery was the key to liberation, the gateway to enlightenment” (Thurman 447). From a social standpoint, “wisdom” allows people to obtain a certain knowledge of themselves and in this way, acquire freedom. Once this “wisdom” is gained, one becomes selfless and allows him or her self to be a greater part of
Knowledge is of two different kinds: what we know or where we can go find the information upon it. The face of knowing something is sometimes gained through experience. With knowledge or the thought that you know something there are many possible and equally definitions of knowledge. People saying that they know something is a justification that they believe it, but facts could be proven and shown that what they believe is not true. It shouldn’t have to be a good reason for anyone to say they know such things and believe in it. If you know something, you know something. No feedback to test my knowledge. We all don’t think or act the same so the knowledge is different upon each human.
Knowledge is something that can change day to day, which can be learned through both the natural and human sciences. Knowledge changes in the natural sciences when an experiment is conducted and more data has been gathered. Knowledge changes in human sciences when patterns are recognized in society and further tests have been conducted. Does our knowledge of things in the natural and human sciences change every day? I think that our knowledge grows everyday but does not necessarily change every day. The areas of knowledge that will be discussed in this essay are natural and human sciences. In History we can see that at one point something that was considered knowledge then transformed into different knowledge, especially in the natural sciences. However, in the past, due to lack of technology, it might have been more of a lack of knowledge that then turned into knowledge on the topic.
Plato once said, “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” Some believe that the desire for knowledge and the emotions that arise from it can be dangerous. This assumption is incorrect because possessing vast amounts of knowledge causes many positive impacts everywhere. Knowledge is not dangerous because it causes advancements in the lives of others which leads to a more harmonious society.
This claim, to me, explains what can be said about the value of knowledge making and experience. Knowledge making is valued greatly by society and society values those who posses this knowledge making ability. Knowledge comes from personal experience and these experiences make that person more intelligent. One makes a decision, and then one learns from the consequences of that decision resulting in more apprehension. An example of building knowledge making is when a small child touches a hot pan on the stove and gets burnt. This child’s knowledge making has increased and the child knows to never touch a pan on the stove without proper protection.
Knowledge is rarely considered permanent, because it is constantly changing and adapting as time passes and new discoveries are made. This title roughly translates into the question: to what extent is knowledge provisional? In other words, to what extent does knowledge exist for the present, possibly to be changed in the future? At first glance, one’s mind would immediately stray to the natural sciences, and how theories are constantly being challenged, disproven, and discarded. Because of this, one might be under the impression that knowledge is always provisional because there is always room for improvement; however, there are some cases in which this is not true. There are plenty of ideas and theories that have withstood the test of time, but on the other end of the spectrum there are many that have not. This essay will evaluate the extent to which knowledge is provisional in the areas of the human sciences and history.
If it cannot be experienced, then there is no real benefit of this knowledge. If there is no benefit, then logically, the knowledge is not valuable in terms of the individual purposes of any human. Therefore, the value of knowledge is diminished if it is not applied and it would be fair to say that the use with purpose is the only way to develop and maintain knowledge. Furthermore, how can any knowledge that cannot be used be useful? Indeed, if some information is not applicable to any aspects of a particular person’s life, then this person is extremely likely to forget it. This implies that the value of knowledge is relative to each individual knower and always depends on his/her own perspective. Therefore, the application does determine the value. Whereas, without application in the real world the knowledge is just a belief since it cannot be experienced and thus cannot be
Passive observation or active experimentation is not the only way to produce knowledge, they cannot be used per se; and they require other additional ways of knowing such as imagination and faith. “There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge”. Just from this statement, numerous questions already arise. First of all, how do we define knowledge? Knowledge, at its core, is information we acquire through experience and education. But the “production” of knowledge is arguable, can knowledge really be produced by humans, or is it discovered?
When I think about knowledge the first thing that comes to my mind is education. I believe that knowledge comes to people by their experiences in life. In other words, life is an instrument that leads me to gain knowledge. Many people consider that old people are wise because they have learned from good and bad experiences throughout their lives. Education requires work, dedication and faith to gain knowledge. We acquired knowledge through the guidance of from parents, role models, college/University teachers and life experiences.
Knowledge allows you to prove your facts. It’s the awareness one has about things. Imaginations, at times, can be uncertain. Knowledge leads us to imagination. We can imagine, only if we know. Knowledge is through your hard work and experience. One should not compare two different poles together.