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How would you define "Knowledge"?


dessskris

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was asking myself how I should define knowledge, and thought I'd ask around.

how would you define Knowledge, and why?

I myself would go with Plato's definition of knowledge. it's a justified, true and believe information on a subject. I agree with him because I think knowledge needs to be justified and should be true. and I think a true information would be believed if it's well justified.

what about you guys?

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The official ToK definition, that is supposed to be in all essays, presentations, etc. is "a justified, true belief", so pretty much what Plato said. I never really questioned it, I guess it's good enough. Though I'd probably specify it even more to "a justified, true belief that can be shared by means of language". We had a discussion about it, and apparently it is possible to "know" something and not be able to share it, but in my opinion that's not real knowledge.

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Uh oh, wrong turn,' thought Don, as he saw the hated figure slumped against the lamp post, the all too familiar features of his brutish face clearly visible in the yellow light. 'I should have known that that scum would surface here. Well, now I know...What are you waiting for, Eric? If you're so tough...' All his attention was focused on the figure in front of him, Don didn't hear the footsteps approaching from behind. And he didn't feel a thing as Eric delivered the fatal blow to the back of his head...

So did Don really know that his killer Eric was there in the alley that night? Don certainly believed that he was there, and his belief proved to be correct. And he had every reason to form such a belief: he had no idea that Eric had an identical twin called Alec, and he had a clear view of a man who was indistinguishable from Eric in every respect.

Since when were their official ToK definitions? The tripartite theory of knowledge has flaws as found by Gettier and shown in situations like the example above

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Knowledge - I'd say its a number of premises which you believe to be true.

Yay subjectiveness.

So under your definition is it not true to say that if I believe little green pixies exist, then I have knowledge of their existence?

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Knowledge - I'd say its a number of premises which you believe to be true.

Yay subjectiveness.

So under your definition is it not true to say that if I believe little green pixies exist, then I have knowledge of their existence?

Heh. Begin the nitpicking.

A good point, though. I'm glad I didn't have to define knowledge in my ToK presentation :blum:

Well, lets see. I suppose I'll have to amend my definition.

How about knowledge being a number of premises that have been proven by other WoKs, be it by yourself or others, which you believe to be true. The nature of these WoKs may be deceiving; it was once 'Knowledge' that Cholera was caused by bad-smelling stuff, but oh well.

I hate the subjectiveness of belief, but what can I do about it.

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Heh. Begin the nitpicking.

A good point, though. I'm glad I didn't have to define knowledge in my ToK presentation :blum:

Well, lets see. I suppose I'll have to amend my definition.

How about knowledge being a number of premises that have been proven by other WoKs, be it by yourself or others, which you believe to be true. The nature of these WoKs may be deceiving; it was once 'Knowledge' that Cholera was caused by bad-smelling stuff, but oh well.

I hate the subjectiveness of belief, but what can I do about it.

When you say "a number of premises" I assume you mean 'a conclusion derived from a number of true premises?' Could you explain how WoKs can "[prove]" a premise? One of the problems with your definition is that premises are, by nature, a form of knowledge themselves. So, under your definition, any knowledge must have been derived from previous knowledge. So are you saying that there is specific knowledge which forms the basis of all derived knowledge? If not, then is it not true to say that knowledge by your definition can never actually exist?

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When you say "a number of premises" I assume you mean 'a conclusion derived from a number of true premises?' Could you explain how WoKs can "[prove]" a premise? One of the problems with your definition is that premises are, by nature, a form of knowledge themselves. So, under your definition, any knowledge must have been derived from previous knowledge. So are you saying that there is specific knowledge which forms the basis of all derived knowledge? If not, then is it not true to say that knowledge by your definition can never actually exist?

Alright. I give up. I can't handle the intellectual diarrhoea.

But essentially, are you saying that Knowledge can't be exactly defined, much like Art?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Keel's illustrated the flaws of empirical knowledge. Plato's definition is an easy one to use, but far from infallible. I would favour the Socratic dialectic form of knowledge, as it is independent of empiricism. This would limit Knowledge more or less to Logic and Mathematics. Having said that, I'm sure one can find exceptions. Even Socrates wasn't perfect.

If you don't need a definition for practical purposes and are just wondering about personal philosophies though, I would argue that "Knowledge" in its vernacular definition doesn't really exist, and the only veritable piece of fact one can hold is of the existence of one's own mind.

Edited by Proletariat
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