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Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or something, such as facts (descriptive knowledge), skills (procedural knowledge), or objects (acquaintance knowledge). By most accounts, knowledge can be acquired in many different ways and from many sources, including but not limited to perception, reason, memory, testimony, scientific inquiry, education, and practice. The philosophical study of knowledge is called epistemology.

The term "knowledge" can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); formal or informal; systematic or particular.[1] The philosopher Plato famously pointed out the need for a distinction between knowledge and true belief in the Theaetetus, leading many to attribute to him a definition of knowledge as "justified true belief".[2][3] The difficulties with this definition raised by the Gettier problem have been the subject of extensive debate in epistemology for more than half a century.[2]

Theories of knowledge



Knowledge is the primary subject of the field of epistemology, which studies what we know, how we come to know it, and what it means to know something.[4] Defining knowledge is an important aspect of epistemology, because it does not suffice to have a belief; one must also have good reasons for that belief, because otherwise there would be no reason to prefer one belief over another.

The definition of knowledge is a matter of ongoing debate among epistemologists. The classical definition, described but not ultimately endorsed by Plato,[5] specifies that a statement must meet three criteria in order to be considered knowledge: it must be justified, true, and believed. Epistemologists today generally agree that these conditions are not sufficient, as various Gettier cases are thought to demonstrate. There are a number of alternative definitions which have been proposed, including Robert Nozick's proposal that all instances of knowledge must 'track the truth' and Simon Blackburn's proposal that those who have a justified true belief 'through a defect, flaw, or failure' fail to have knowledge. Richard Kirkham suggests that our definition of knowledge requires that the evidence for the belief necessitates its truth.[6]



"Self-knowledge" usually refers to a person's knowledge of their own sensations, thoughts, beliefs, and other mental states.[9] A number of questions regarding self-knowledge have been the subject of extensive debates in philosophy, including whether self-knowledge differs from other types of knowledge, whether we have privileged self-knowledge compared to knowledge of other minds, and the nature of our acquaintance with ourselves.[9] David Hume famously expressed skepticism about whether we could ever have self-knowledge over and above our immediate awareness of a "bundle of perceptions", which was part of his broader skepticism about personal identity.[9]

The value of knowledge

Los portadores de la antorcha (The Torch-Bearers) - Sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington symbolizing the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next (Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain)



In contemporary philosophy, epistemologists including Ernest Sosa, John Greco, Jonathan Kvanvig,[13] Linda Zagzebski, and Duncan Pritchard have defended virtue epistemology as a solution to the value problem. They argue that epistemology should also evaluate the "properties" of people as epistemic agents (i.e. intellectual virtues), rather than merely the properties of propositions and propositional mental attitudes.

Scientific knowledge

The development of the scientific method has made a significant contribution to how knowledge of the physical world and its phenomena is acquired.[14] To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning and experimentation.[15] The scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.[16] Science, and the nature of scientific knowledge have also become the subject of philosophy. As science itself has developed, scientific knowledge now includes a broader usage[17] in the soft sciences such as biology and the social sciences - discussed elsewhere as meta-epistemology, or genetic epistemology, and to some extent related to "theory of cognitive development". Note that "epistemology" is the study of knowledge and how it is acquired. Science is "the process used everyday to logically complete thoughts through inference of facts determined by calculated experiments." Sir Francis Bacon was critical in the historical development of the scientific method; his works established and popularized an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry. His famous aphorism, "knowledge is power", is found in the Meditations Sacrae (1597).[18]


Those who use the phrase "scientific knowledge" don't necessary claim to certainty, since scientists will never be absolutely certain when they are correct and when they are not. It is thus an irony of proper scientific method that one must doubt even when correct, in the hopes that this practice will lead to greater convergence on the truth in general.[20]

Situated knowledge



Some methods of generating knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience, tend to create highly situational knowledge. Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or traditions. This integration of situational knowledge is an allusion to the community, and its attempts at collecting subjective perspectives into an embodiment "of views from somewhere."[21] Knowledge is also said to be related to the capacity of acknowledgement in human beings.[25]


Partial knowledge

The parable of the blind men and the elephant suggests that people tend to project their partial experiences as the whole truth


This idea is also present in the concept of bounded rationality which assumes that in real-life situations people often have a limited amount of information and make decisions accordingly.

Religious concepts of knowledge


In many expressions of Christianity, such as Catholicism[27] and Anglicanism,[28] knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

"The knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit, however, is not limited to human knowledge; it is a special gift, which leads us to grasp, through creation, the greatness and love of God and his profound relationship with every creature." (Pope Francis, papal audience May 21, 2014)[29]


(Vidya Daan) i.e. knowledge sharing is a major part of Daan, a tenet of all Dharmic Religions.[30] Hindu Scriptures present two kinds of knowledge, Paroksh Gyan and Prataksh Gyan. Paroksh Gyan (also spelled Paroksha-Jnana) is secondhand knowledge: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. Pratyaksh Gyan (also spelled Pratyaksha-Jnana) is the knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself.[31] Jnana yoga ("path of knowledge") is one of three main types of yoga expounded by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. (It is compared and contrasted with Bhakti Yoga and Karma yoga.)


In Islam, knowledge (Arabic: , ?ilm) is given great significance. "The Knowing" (al-?Al?m) is one of the 99 names reflecting distinct attributes of God. The Qur'an asserts that knowledge comes from God (2:239) and various hadith encourage the acquisition of knowledge. Muhammad is reported to have said "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave" and "Verily the men of knowledge are the inheritors of the prophets". Islamic scholars, theologians and jurists are often given the title alim, meaning "knowledgeble".[32]




See also


  1. ^ "knowledge: definition of knowledge in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)". oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b "The Analysis of Knowledge". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2020.
  4. ^ "Epistemology". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2020.
  6. ^ Kirkham, Richard L. (October 1984). "Does the Gettier Problem Rest on a Mistake?". Mind. New Series. 93 (372): 501-513. doi:10.1093/mind/XCIII.372.501. JSTOR 2254258. jstor (subscription required)[dead link]
  7. ^ Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty, remark 42
  8. ^ Gottschalk-Mazouz, N. (2008): "Internet and the flow of knowledge," in: Hrachovec, H.; Pichler, A. (Hg.): Philosophy of the Information Society. Proceedings of the 30. International Ludwig Wittgenstein Symposium Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria 2007. Volume 2, Frankfurt, Paris, Lancaster, New Brunswik: Ontos, S. 215-232. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b c "Self-Knowledge". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2020.
  10. ^ Plato (2002). Five Dialogues. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. Co. pp. 89-90, 97b-98a. ISBN 978-0-87220-633-5.
  11. ^ Pritchard, Duncan; Turri, John. "The Value of Knowledge". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2016.
  12. ^ Pritchard, Duncan (April 2007). "Recent Work on Epistemic Value". American Philosophical Quarterly. 44 (2): 85-110. JSTOR 20464361.
  14. ^ "Science - Definition of science by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com.
  15. ^ "[4] Rules for the study of natural philosophy", Newton 1999, pp. 794-796, from the General Scholium, which follows Book 3, The System of the World.
  16. ^ scientific method, Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
  18. ^ "Sir Francis Bacon - Quotationspage.com". Retrieved 2009.
  20. ^ "philosophy bites". philosophybites.com.
  24. ^ Braidotti, Rosi (2006). "Posthuman, All Too Human". Theory, Culture & Society. 23 (7-8): 197-208. doi:10.1177/0263276406069232.
  25. ^ Stanley Cavell, "Knowing and Acknowledging", Must We Mean What We Say? (Cambridge University Press, 2002), 238-266.
  26. ^ "The Subject and Power". Foucault, Michel. Critical Inquiry Volume 9, No. 4. pp. 777-795. 1982
  27. ^ "Part Three, No. 1831". Catechism of the Catholic Church. Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Retrieved 2007.
  28. ^ "Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit", An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church
  29. ^ "The gifts of the Holy Spirit open us to divine inspirations", Catholic News Service, September 10, 2020
  30. ^ " ?  ? - Vishva Hindu Parishad - Official Website". vhp.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011.
  32. ^ "Alim". Lexico. Oxford. Retrieved 2021.

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