So far you read that the knowledge is sum of ideas, concepts about object. Therefore, all knowledge has two elements—the object and the conceptualisation of the object. Knowledge of the real, says Clarence Irving Lewis (1929), “involves always two elements, of given and ineffable presentation, and the element of conceptual interpretation which represents the mind’s response. We might say that the conceptual is the formal element, of order or relation, and the given is the material or content element.”
Since the knowledge consists of multiple objects and their different conceptualisations, it is categorised into different forms. Further, human knowledge is classificatory; the very process of conceptualisation results into the categorisation/
classification of objects and, thereby, the knowledge.
Categorisation could be done either on the basis of object of the knowledge or on the basis of level of understanding of the phenomenon. Knowledge can also be classified depending on the purpose and the perspective. Thinkers have classified the knowledge into the knowledge of appearance and the knowledge of essence. It is also classified as immediate knowledge and mediate knowledge. John Locke distinguished three kinds of knowledge (cited in Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
These are:
1. Intuitive knowledge, of such things as the fact that red is not green and the fact of one’s own existence;
2. Demonstrative knowledge, which includes mathematics, morality, and the existence of God; and
3. Sensitive knowledge, which is concerned with “the particular existence of finite beings without us.”
Knowledge, in a practical way, can be classified into following categories on the basis of means used in the
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process of knowing by which a particular ‘class’ of knowledge is generated.
• Experiential Knowledge, a form of knowledge that can only be obtained through experience. For example, the knowledge of what it is like to see colours, which cannot be explained to a person born blind.
• Experimental Knowledge is based on or derived from experience, or empirical evidences.
• Reasoned or Logical Knowledge is knowledge of the truths and principles of deductive logic.
• Intuitive Knowledge is the knowledge that is acquired without inference and/or the use of reason. It comes from within by looking inside or contemplation.
• Revealed Knowledge, facts that are simply apparent to people and can’t be denied, as they see it.
At the beginning, we have seen that the Knowledge is always knowledge of some phenomenon/thing/object.
Therefore, simplest and most practical basis of classifying the Knowledge is the phenomenon/ object which the knowledge probes into. Selection of school/ disciplinary knowledge is based on this categorisation. Table 2 contains the object of study, its conceptualisation, methods of understanding and validation, if any.
Activity 6
Select a chapter from science textbook. Analyse it with respect to the dimensions given in Table 2. Repeat this exercise for other subjects.
C
haRaCTERISTICS oFK
nowlEdgEKnowledge has following characteristics that explicates and brings forth its nature.
non-MAteriAL AnD AbstrACt nAtUre oF KnowLeDge
The various definitions of knowledge, be it common sense meaning of knowledge that the knowledge is shared understanding; be it justified belief, or verified belief, or agreement between two ideas or knowledge is sum of concepts, ideas, principles, laws; point out that knowledge is non-material and abstract in nature. In addition to this,
Knowledge: Meaningand Facets
Table 2 Knowledge Classification
Sl. No School Subject
Phenomenon/Object of StudyNature of the KnowledgeModes of UnderstandingNature of Validation 1.Natural ScienceNature–Physical and
Biological ‘Concrete
things’
Causal;‘Objective’ with little subjectivityObservation, Experimentation
Verification/ falsification
2.Social ScienceSociety in all its aspectsDynamic; Normative; Interpretative
Interpretative Understanding; Critical
evaluations; Dialogue.
Constantly reconstructed in the light of values and utilities; Judged in the light of Normative resolutions 3.MathsNumbers, Symbols and Logic, ‘Abstract thought’
Human construction and Highly structured
Axiomatic; Abstract
and Given
Logical DeductionsProof 4.LanguageWords, Grammar; Culture;Human construction but Highly dynamic; Inter-subjective; Creative
Narrations; Creative expressions
Utilitarian
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knowledge has certain other characteristics, such as it is social in nature, it is cumulative and perspectival, and is limited and limitless. Let us analyse these characteristics of knowledge.
soCiAL ChArACter oF KnowLeDge
Knowledge is a socially shared understanding. Thus, it is essentially a social product. It is built up socially, as a product of the social activity of men and women. Knowledge is not the handiwork of isolated individual mind; it is the result of collective pursuit of the society. Though contribution of individuals in knowledge generation is immense and the role individuals in accumulation of knowledge, at any point of history, is tremendous, all the individuals do this historical act of generating and accumulating the knowledge precisely by participating in social activity and processes. Not only that, the knowledge stock, into which individuals are born, provides individuals with a sense of understanding. Without this, no individual could have contributed to the knowledge.
Every individual acquires a great deal of knowledge from his own experience; but he would not do so apart from his association with fellow humans. Therefore, the knowledge is acquired and built up only in society, and its roots lies in the social activities of man. Hence, knowledge is essentially social in character.
CUMULAtive nAtUre oF KnowLeDge
Knowledge is cumulative in nature because it is socially preserved and transmitted from one generation to the future generations. It is not static, but always grows and develops in generations. Indeed, as there is scope for newer and newer understanding of reality, knowledge of the reality gets expanded. As human relations with world of objects and their utilities, ideas and their relevance assumes newer dimensions over time, human understanding of the world of objects and the world of ideas undergoes change and in the process adds new knowledge to the existing stock of knowledge. In this way, incomplete understanding moves towards complete understanding of the reality. Knowledge grows through a process of not only adding to but also perfecting and
Knowledge: Meaningand Facets
correcting the already existing body of knowledge. In no field is knowledge ever perfect, final and complete. Knowledge is necessarily cumulative; knowledge once constructed does not perish; because, knowledge, unlike material things that perish after some time, is non-material in nature. Therefore, accumulation is inevitable.
KnowLeDge is PersPeCtivAL
Knowledge does not simply ‘explain’ the objective reality hanging ‘out there’; it constructs the reality within the limits set by experience. It is not simply explanatory in character;
rather, it is interpretative in character and nature. It is interpreted in a social context. This inherent character of interpretiveness of knowledge makes it perspectival rather than simply perceptual. Knowledge develops perspectives among knowers.
KnowLeDge is both LiMiteD AnD LiMitLess
The cumulative character of knowledge also informs us both limit and limitless nature of knowledge. At any particular stage in the development of humanity, knowledge comes up against limits set by the limited character of available experience and by the existing means in obtaining knowledge.
Therefore, knowledge is always limited, and is at the same time limitless. In other words, the known is always bounded by the unknown but not the unknowable.
Learning Check 5
1. So far, you have seen the role of perception in knowledge. As perception is conditioned/
facilitated/limited by biological constitution/
factors as well cultural factors that include, language, beliefs and normative orientation of individual, critically examine the roles of those factors in their knowing.
2. What is the role of perception in different areas of knowledge? How does it differ across various school disciplines/subjects—language, mathematics, social science, arts and science?
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