Epistemology is defined as “the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity” (epistemology, n.d.). In the exploration of epistemology, many philosophers have attempted to define what knowledge is, how it is acquired, and what is truth. My next three posts will be a synthesis of what these many philosophers have taught us over the ages, resulting in the formation of five guiding principles that can be applied to the modern application of learning and knowledge management.
Guiding Principle 1: Knowledge involves aspects of both the mind (thinking) and the body (senses and experience)
In the early days of epistemology, there was a strong separation between mind and body. Plato and Descartes believed that knowledge was of the mind. Plato (360BC/1968) argued that knowledge is innate and need only be brought forth. Descartes (1644) coined the phrase “cogito, ergo sum”—I think, therefore I am—and argued our senses should not be trusted, and that thought proceeds and is more certain and clearer than the body. On the other hand, Aristotle and Locke believed that knowledge focuses on the body and what is learned through our senses and experience. Aristotle (350BC/1993) argued that knowledge is created via mental processes based on what our senses perceive of the world around us. Locke (1689) developed the concept of the mind as a “tabula rasa” (white paper or blank tablet) upon which experience writes.
As we move into the 18th century through the mid-20th century, a separation between mind and body was still evident, yet some synthesis of the two began. Rousseau (1762/1957), James (1907), and Dewey (1938/1998) emphasized experience and the senses. On the other hand, Kant (1803/1960) argued that we need both sense and understanding. He believed that the body and senses help form self-sufficiency, strength, skill, quickness, self-confidence, discipline, and individuality plus enable one to become a contributing or working member of society. At the same time, Kant believed that the mind helps with the development of understanding, judgment, reason, and morality.
Looking now to the turn of the last century, a more holistic view of knowledge emerged. Schon argued for both ‘knowledge-in-action’ and ‘reflection-in-action’ (1987, pp. 23-29). Senge introduced the concept of systems thinking which “integrates [his five] disciplines [for learning] into a coherent body of theory and practice” (2006, p. 12). Nonaka and Takeuchi encouraged Western companies to embrace more holistic concepts of knowledge characterized in the Japanese intellectual tradition that emphasizes “the ‘whole personality’… [where] knowledge means wisdom that is acquired from the perspective of the entire personality… [resulting in a] valuing of personal and physical experience over indirect, intellectual abstraction” (1995, p. 29). They further argued that tacit knowledge in particular involves both physical skills (or ‘know-how’) as well as a cognitive aspect that “reflects our image of reality (what is) and our vision for the future (what ought to be)” (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995, p. 8).
Guiding Principle 2: Knowledge is acquired through a combination of methods
The ancient philosophers provided many enduring truisms related to understanding how knowledge is acquired. For example, Plato (360BC/1968) introduced his sun metaphor—where the light of good helps us to see the ideas of the mental world—which is the basis of the concepts we hear today with such words and phrases as "enlightenment," "seeing the light," "bright ideas," and "dawning on us.”
Many philosophers believed that knowledge was acquired through the senses. Both Aristotle and Locke contended that one can acquire new knowledge only through the senses and accumulating those experiences to form knowledge and skill. For them, knowledge is inductive by nature. Aristotle (350BC/1993), who laid the foundation for the scientific method, argued that we use our sensory perception to take in particulars and then use reasoning powers to understand what our senses perceived. Locke (1689) argued that the only knowledge humans can have is based on experience (‘a posteriori’). In Book I of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he argued against innate knowledge and the Cartesian split between mind and body. In Book II, Locke presented his theory of knowledge being one where all knowledge is acquired through either our senses or from reflecting on our experiences in the physical world. Interestingly, Locke still did support the Cartesian Dualism of the mind/body split; even though the mind gathers data from the sensory world, Locke argued that knowledge is an intellectual event in a world separate from the physical one. In the 18th century, Rousseau offered a four-step approach for acquiring knowledge where we “let the senses be the only guide for the first workings of reason” (1762/1957, p. 131). He argued that knowledge should be acquired first through the senses, observation, and experience; second, gradually gain the ability to focus on one thing for a long time (as driven by the learners’ interest—not an external mandate); third, apply these to ‘an honest trade’ (ensuring that one does not acquire the prejudices of one’s social and/or economic position); and then, finally, develop judgment and reasoning.
Many philosophers also believed that knowledge is acquired through the mind. Plato and Descartes were proponents of knowledge being acquired through the intellect alone—they both believed that we are born with innate ‘a priori’ knowledge and can deduce truths through mental reasoning. Proponents of rationalist philosophy, they believed that the intellect could be used to acquire knowledge about everything there is to know—that one merely needs to apply adequate intellectual reflection and study to a subject in order to deduce the truth. Plato (360BC/1968) argued that ideas are perfect, eternal, and found in the soul and that knowledge is innate and needs only be brought forth. Descartes (1644) argued that reason alone determines knowledge and this can be done independently of the senses. He further asserted that since conscious sense experience can be the cause of illusions, all sense experience should be doubted. Instead, Descartes argues, the thinking mind can operate under its own rules of logic to come to conclusions about that ‘other world’—the physical world.
More recently, the belief has emerged that knowledge is acquired through multiple means. Kant (1803/1960) argued that two kinds of judgment are needed—a priori (deductive reasoning) and a posteriori (inductive reasoning). Echoing Kant’s belief that “no mental faculty is to be cultivated by itself, but always in relation to others” (1907, p. 71), James also taught that we acquire new beliefs and ideas through the linking or ‘grafting’ of new knowledge onto previous.
As new knowledge is acquired it is done so in relation to what we already know, and in forming these new truths our old ideas and beliefs are forever changed (James, 1907, p. 24). Furthermore, Nonaka and Takeuchi have cautioned Western managers to let go of knowledge acquisition as something that occurs through books and classrooms, but rather through a “less formal and systematic side of knowledge… [that focuses] on highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches that are gained through the use of metaphors, picture, or experiences” (1995, p. 11).
To be continued...
- Robin
Performance Associates, Inc.
