Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Definitions of knowledge
Definitions of knowledge aim to identify the essential features of knowledge. Closely related terms are conception of knowledge, theory of knowledge, and analysis of knowledge. Some general features of knowledge are widely accepted among philosophers, for example, that it involves cognitive success and epistemic contact with reality. Despite extensive study, disagreements about the nature of knowledge persist, in part because researchers use diverging methodologies, seek definitions for distinct purposes, and have differing intuitions about the standards of knowledge.
An often-discussed definition asserts that knowledge is justified true belief. Justification means that the belief fulfills certain norms like being based on good reasons or being the product of a reliable cognitive process. This approach seeks to distinguish knowledge from mere true beliefs that arise from superstition, lucky guesses, or flawed reasoning. Critics of the justified-true-belief view, like Edmund Gettier, have proposed counterexamples to show that some justified true beliefs do not amount to knowledge if the justification is not genuinely connected to the truth, a condition termed epistemic luck.
In response, some philosophers have expanded the justified-true-belief definition with additional criteria intended to avoid these counterexamples. Suggested criteria include that the known fact caused the belief, that the belief manifests a cognitive virtue, that the belief is not inferred from a falsehood, and that the justification cannot be undermined. However, not all philosophers agree that such modifications are successful. Some propose a radical reconceptualization or hold that knowledge is a unique state not definable as a combination of other states.
Most definitions seek to understand the features of propositional knowledge, which is theoretical knowledge of a fact that can be expressed through a declarative that-clause, such as "knowing that Dave is at home". Other definitions focus on practical knowledge and knowledge by acquaintance. Practical knowledge concerns the ability to do something, like knowing how to swim. Knowledge by acquaintance is a familiarity with something based on experiential contact, like knowing the taste of chocolate.
Definitions of knowledge try to describe the essential features of knowledge. This includes clarifying the distinction between knowing something and not knowing it, for example, pointing out what is the difference between knowing that smoking causes cancer and not knowing this. Sometimes the expressions "conception of knowledge", "theory of knowledge", and "analysis of knowledge" are used as synonyms. Various general features of knowledge are widely accepted. For example, it can be understood as a form of cognitive success or epistemic contact with reality, and propositional knowledge may be characterized as "believing a true proposition in a good way". However, such descriptions are too vague to be very useful without further clarifications of what "cognitive success" means, what type of success is involved, or what constitutes "good ways of believing".
The disagreements about the nature of knowledge are both numerous and deep. Some of these disagreements stem from the fact that there are different ways of defining a term, both in relation to the goal one intends to achieve and concerning the method used to achieve it. These difficulties are further exacerbated by the fact that the term "knowledge" has historically been used for a great range of diverse phenomena. These phenomena include theoretical know-that, as in knowing that Paris is in France, practical know-how, as in knowing how to swim, and knowledge by acquaintance, as in personally knowing a celebrity. It is not clear that there is one underlying essence to all of these forms. For this reason, most definitions restrict themselves either explicitly or implicitly to knowledge-that, also termed "propositional knowledge", which is seen as the most paradigmatic type of knowledge.
Even when restricted to propositional knowledge, the differences between the various definitions are usually substantial. For this reason, the choice of one's conception of knowledge matters for questions like whether a particular mental state constitutes knowledge, whether knowledge is fairly common or quite rare, and whether there is knowledge at all. The problem of the definition and analysis of knowledge has been a subject of intense discussion within epistemology both in the 20th and the 21st century. The branch of philosophy studying knowledge is called epistemology.
An important reason for these disagreements is that different theorists often have very different goals in mind when trying to define knowledge. Some definitions are based mainly on the practical concern of being able to find instances of knowledge. For such definitions to be successful, it is not required that they identify all and only its necessary features. In many cases, easily identifiable contingent features can even be more helpful for the search than precise but complicated formulas. On the theoretical side, on the other hand, there are so-called real definitions that aim to grasp the term's essence in order to understand its place on the conceptual map in relation to other concepts. Real definitions are preferable on the theoretical level since they are very precise. However, it is often very hard to find a real definition that avoids all counterexamples. Real definitions usually presume that knowledge is a natural kind, like "human being" or "water" and unlike "candy" or "large plant". Natural kinds are clearly distinguishable on the scientific level from other phenomena. As a natural kind, knowledge may be understood as a specific type of mental state. In this regard, the term "analysis of knowledge" is used to indicate that one seeks different components that together make up propositional knowledge, usually in the form of its essential features or as the conditions that are individually necessary and jointly sufficient. This may be understood in analogy to a chemist analyzing a sample to discover its chemical compositions in the form of the elements involved in it. In most cases, the proposed features of knowledge apply to many different instances. However, the main difficulty for such a project is to avoid all counterexamples, i.e. there should be no instances that escape the analysis, not even in hypothetical thought experiments. By trying to avoid all possible counterexamples, the analysis of aims at arriving at a necessary truth about knowledge.
Hub AI
Definitions of knowledge AI simulator
(@Definitions of knowledge_simulator)
Definitions of knowledge
Definitions of knowledge aim to identify the essential features of knowledge. Closely related terms are conception of knowledge, theory of knowledge, and analysis of knowledge. Some general features of knowledge are widely accepted among philosophers, for example, that it involves cognitive success and epistemic contact with reality. Despite extensive study, disagreements about the nature of knowledge persist, in part because researchers use diverging methodologies, seek definitions for distinct purposes, and have differing intuitions about the standards of knowledge.
An often-discussed definition asserts that knowledge is justified true belief. Justification means that the belief fulfills certain norms like being based on good reasons or being the product of a reliable cognitive process. This approach seeks to distinguish knowledge from mere true beliefs that arise from superstition, lucky guesses, or flawed reasoning. Critics of the justified-true-belief view, like Edmund Gettier, have proposed counterexamples to show that some justified true beliefs do not amount to knowledge if the justification is not genuinely connected to the truth, a condition termed epistemic luck.
In response, some philosophers have expanded the justified-true-belief definition with additional criteria intended to avoid these counterexamples. Suggested criteria include that the known fact caused the belief, that the belief manifests a cognitive virtue, that the belief is not inferred from a falsehood, and that the justification cannot be undermined. However, not all philosophers agree that such modifications are successful. Some propose a radical reconceptualization or hold that knowledge is a unique state not definable as a combination of other states.
Most definitions seek to understand the features of propositional knowledge, which is theoretical knowledge of a fact that can be expressed through a declarative that-clause, such as "knowing that Dave is at home". Other definitions focus on practical knowledge and knowledge by acquaintance. Practical knowledge concerns the ability to do something, like knowing how to swim. Knowledge by acquaintance is a familiarity with something based on experiential contact, like knowing the taste of chocolate.
Definitions of knowledge try to describe the essential features of knowledge. This includes clarifying the distinction between knowing something and not knowing it, for example, pointing out what is the difference between knowing that smoking causes cancer and not knowing this. Sometimes the expressions "conception of knowledge", "theory of knowledge", and "analysis of knowledge" are used as synonyms. Various general features of knowledge are widely accepted. For example, it can be understood as a form of cognitive success or epistemic contact with reality, and propositional knowledge may be characterized as "believing a true proposition in a good way". However, such descriptions are too vague to be very useful without further clarifications of what "cognitive success" means, what type of success is involved, or what constitutes "good ways of believing".
The disagreements about the nature of knowledge are both numerous and deep. Some of these disagreements stem from the fact that there are different ways of defining a term, both in relation to the goal one intends to achieve and concerning the method used to achieve it. These difficulties are further exacerbated by the fact that the term "knowledge" has historically been used for a great range of diverse phenomena. These phenomena include theoretical know-that, as in knowing that Paris is in France, practical know-how, as in knowing how to swim, and knowledge by acquaintance, as in personally knowing a celebrity. It is not clear that there is one underlying essence to all of these forms. For this reason, most definitions restrict themselves either explicitly or implicitly to knowledge-that, also termed "propositional knowledge", which is seen as the most paradigmatic type of knowledge.
Even when restricted to propositional knowledge, the differences between the various definitions are usually substantial. For this reason, the choice of one's conception of knowledge matters for questions like whether a particular mental state constitutes knowledge, whether knowledge is fairly common or quite rare, and whether there is knowledge at all. The problem of the definition and analysis of knowledge has been a subject of intense discussion within epistemology both in the 20th and the 21st century. The branch of philosophy studying knowledge is called epistemology.
An important reason for these disagreements is that different theorists often have very different goals in mind when trying to define knowledge. Some definitions are based mainly on the practical concern of being able to find instances of knowledge. For such definitions to be successful, it is not required that they identify all and only its necessary features. In many cases, easily identifiable contingent features can even be more helpful for the search than precise but complicated formulas. On the theoretical side, on the other hand, there are so-called real definitions that aim to grasp the term's essence in order to understand its place on the conceptual map in relation to other concepts. Real definitions are preferable on the theoretical level since they are very precise. However, it is often very hard to find a real definition that avoids all counterexamples. Real definitions usually presume that knowledge is a natural kind, like "human being" or "water" and unlike "candy" or "large plant". Natural kinds are clearly distinguishable on the scientific level from other phenomena. As a natural kind, knowledge may be understood as a specific type of mental state. In this regard, the term "analysis of knowledge" is used to indicate that one seeks different components that together make up propositional knowledge, usually in the form of its essential features or as the conditions that are individually necessary and jointly sufficient. This may be understood in analogy to a chemist analyzing a sample to discover its chemical compositions in the form of the elements involved in it. In most cases, the proposed features of knowledge apply to many different instances. However, the main difficulty for such a project is to avoid all counterexamples, i.e. there should be no instances that escape the analysis, not even in hypothetical thought experiments. By trying to avoid all possible counterexamples, the analysis of aims at arriving at a necessary truth about knowledge.