...For Russell, we have knowledge by acquaintance ``with anything of which we are directly aware, without the intermediary of any process of inference or any knowledge of truths.'' (46) * when we perceive a table (touching and seeing it), the things that we perceive (color, shape, hardness, smoothness: its appearance), is what I have acquaintance – “things immediately know to me just as they are.”. This is different frm knowledge of the table as the physical object. * W’out knowledge of truth: which may very well be a belief rather than actual knowledge), since w’out truth: may be wrong. - “things immediately know to me just as they are.”: sounds like some concrete, independent from experience knowledge. someone’s color blind? Russell lists 5 kinds of things we know by acquaintance: sense data, our memories, our own thoughts (by introspection), our (probably) our own self, and universals. [Universals are general ideas which can apply to many different particular things in the world. We have acquaintance with the data of the senses, and in introspection (---thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.; we have acquaintance in memory with things which have been data either of the outer senses or the inner sense. Further, it is probable, though not certain, that we have acquaintance with Self, as that which is aware of things or has desires toward things. [[Include memories n thoughts: that this classifying of experience does involve an unconscious process of inference; and...
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...The Importance of Thinking Critically and Creatively Active shooting and violence in the workplace can happen anywhere and anytime and the employer takes critical and sometimes creative action to resolve the situation. According to the FBI report entitled “Workplace Violence-Issues in Response” employers are legally obligated to provide a safe work environment that protects the safety and security of all employees whether civilian or military. This obligation is currently reinforced by both OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) and the Department of Civil Rights. Many active shooters have behavioral and mental health issues that remain undiagnosed and untreated. The compelling argument is whether violence in the workplace is preventable. Four people were killed and sixteen more were injured on April 2, 2014 when an active shooter opened fire at Fort Hood. The sprawling Army post in Texas was still on edge after a mass shooting there left 13 dead on November 5, 2009. Each time, the active shooters were diagnosed after the fact as having had prior mental conditions. A more proactive approach to recognizing and diagnosing PTSD could greatly minimize the number of active shootings on military installations. Early detection of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) could dramatically minimize the number of active shooter incidents throughout military installations. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined as a diagnosis that is fully accepted by the U.S. Veterans Administration...
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...Truth--its definition, its pursuit, its discovery--is central to much of human intellectual activity. One place we look for clues about what is true is in the trends of the community. We may attempt to find it in religion or cultural beliefs, for example, that we have learned from a community that shares these beliefs. We know the earth is round or that war is bad because everyone knows it. Pierce’s statement praises this way of knowing, suggesting that community, whatever that community may be, is a key to the search for truth. This suggestion is tied to the idea of a body of human knowledge, the idea that the human race progresses as each community member adds to the world’s knowledge, relying on what others have concluded is true and then building on it with his or her own new knowledge. Thus, knowledge is a group pursuit, closely tied to community. There are many types of communities. The whole human race may be thought of as a knowledge community. The smaller group of all scientists is often referred to as the scientific community. Even a ToK class is a kind of community. Depending on what truth we seek, we may tie it to the community of the whole world or to a smaller community that reflects a focus on a particular area of knowledge. For example, although a Catholic may tie his or her theological knowledge to the leadings of the Catholic community, he or she probably does not tie them to the theological knowledge of the world community, or even of the western world. Whatever...
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...Consequences of Knowledge and Truth Although the quest for knowledge plays a big role in Sophocles' play "Oedipus Rex,” translated by Dudley Fittz and Robert Fitzgerald, the consequences of wanting to know the truth led to an unforeseen exile. Though Oedipus was very dignified, his pursuit for knowledge and truth resulted in ruin as Oedipus uncovered his destiny, which he was better off not knowing. Because Oedipus was a king of great honor; his power prevented him from acknowledging the words of his own people and accepting the truth. Oedipus, once a man of power and wealth, lost all respect creating ramifications that he later endured. The power of truth became the biggest obstacles for Oedipus' character to accept amongst the vigilant kingdom he was living in. Oedipus' was unwilling to see the truth behind his very own prophecy spoken by his kingdom of people, to whom he should have always been willing to listen. He requested to hear the spoken words of Thebes and summoned them to hear, “Children, I would not have you speak through messengers, and therefore I have come myself to hear you— I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name” (Sophocles 3). Not realizing the slander of the town was about him, Oedipus requested to be told the truth spoken throughout his people. Because of his request to hear the truth, Oedipus’ was hit with the truth of his past. He is dignified enough to be told up front with out having to hear through the gossip, however this caused him to hear the truth of his...
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...Management knowledge and knowledge management: realism and forms of truth John Mingers1 1Kent Business School, University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K. Correspondence: John Mingers, Kent Business School, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7PE, U.K. Tel: þ44 1227 824008; E-mail: j.mingers@kent.ac.uk Received: 24 July 2007 Accepted: 15 October 2007 Abstract This paper addresses the issue of truth and knowledge in management generally and knowledge management in particular. Based on ideas from critical realism and critical theory, it argues against the monovalent conceptualization of knowledge implicitly or explicitly held by many authors and aims instead to develop a characterization that recognizes the rich and varied ways in which human beings may be said ‘to know’. It points out and conceptualizes a fundamental dimension of knowledge that is generally ignored or cursorily treated within the literature, that is, ‘truth’. It identifies four forms of knowledge – propositional, experiential, performative and epistemological – and explores their characteristics, especially in terms of truth and validity. It points out some implications for knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice (2008) 6, 62–76. doi:10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500161 Keywords: knowledge management; knowledge; information; critical realism; critical theory; truth Introduction Although knowledge management (KM) has established itself as a bona fide subject both in practice...
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...Knowledge and Justified Belief What is knowledge? This is the question we used to be sure of according to Plato’s theory of recollection, which tells that the knowledge is the justified belief; if this belief is true, then there is some fact make the proposition for this belief to be true; since the belief is justified by some evidence; therefore people comes up with the standard analysis of knowledge. This idea has been generally agreed till Edmund Gettier came up with the article questioning if knowledge is the justified true belief. Gettier provides two cases wherein intuitively the subject gains a justified true belief does not equal to knowledge. By contrast, Gettier’s arguments indicate the situation in which someone has a belief that is both true and well supported by evidence but fails to be knowledge. That is, it is sufficient and necessary to have belief, truth and justification to define knowledge as in classical theory, yet, the Gettier’s theory by questioning knowledge that justifiably believe one of the true proposition and dismiss the other is necessary and sufficient add-on to the classical theory to redefine knowledge. First of all, according to Plato’s theory of knowledge, that knowledge is justified true belief, or as Gettier concluded Plato’s classical theory of knowledge as: “ S knows that P if and only if P is true; S believes in P and S is justified in believing P” (Gettier 1). In the Meno, written by Plato, he believes that knowledge appears to...
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...Research Methods 1. Difference between knowledge and belief? There are a lot of different opinions on each of the concepts. But as a general conclusion we can say that knowledge (sci.) is the realization of a fact, at which we may come through various sources. And you can support and verify it using statistical or experimental data, or in the other hand prove it to be wrong, too. While knowledge is justified true belief (Plato), belief is more a psychological condition. A belief it's all in the mind and can not be proven either by our senses or empirically; something that we all feel. Knowledge is necessary but belief is as important as well. Knowledge can strengthen or weaken a belief. If I know something to be true, I know it to be true (knowl.). But If I don't, then I can choose to believe it or not. So looks like knowledge is more essential than belief, because whether you believe in something or not, it does not change the fact itself, but knowing something to be a fact or not, can alter your belief in it. 2. What’s the difference between the epistemology of the critic realism and realism itself? Realism is an epistemological study which says that knowledge of a social phenomenon is supported like in what can be observed and recorded, also in the ‘hidden’ structures and mechanisms, which cause reactions that can be observed, collected and used to offer facts over these mechanisms. Critical realism gives priority to the identification of structures and mechanisms...
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...What is truth? For hundreds of years people discussed about whether “Truth” exists. The argument usually contains whatever truth was, is, or will be, and the arguments are just the test of the rightness or wrongness of people’s ideas and theories beyond doubt and dispute. Those people who accepted the existence of “Truth” believed it was a spiritual reality but not a physical one. The simply sum of reality can also be called “Truth”. On the other hand, those people who rejected the existence of “Truth” thought “How could all reality be summed up that way?” We should find evidence to support of its existence. With the purpose of finding the evidence of the existence of “Truth”, I will talk about what is truth or what it might be, and I will also talk about how to attain the truth. In my opinion, “Truth” cannot be only judged as a specific thing or word, it also seems like a process of finding the knowledge or the conclusion which we don’t know. We will usually ask: “What actually the truth is?” Briefly speaking, the facts we believed and the knowledge we have learned are all means “Truth”. But why there are still so many persons do not believe the existence of “Truth”? It was because that no one can ensure the knowledge we are learning now or the way of life nowadays is right, we just follow what the old have done. There is seldom people will try to confirm the original of the things that most people have known, so no one can definitely saying “this is true”. For example, the...
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...In the ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ Plato suggests a theory in regards to the idea of human perception. It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates. Plato ultimately claims that knowledge gained through the senses is nothing more than a simple opinion. As a result, Plato also claims that in order to have real knowledge, one must gain knowledge through philosophical reasoning. Plato uses his work of the ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ to help distinguish between individuals who are mistaken by the sensory knowledge for truth and individuals who see real truth and gain real knowledge. Plato sets the setting of the story in a cave in which prisoners have resided since birth. The prisoners are chained and shackled, legs bound, and their head tied so they cannot see in any direction other than ahead of them, facing forward at a blank, stonewall. Behind the prisoners is a fire and a raised walkway where people along this walkway create shadows, which are projected onto the stonewall. Since the shadows are only what the prisoners are able to ever view, they are forced to believe that these shadows of a reality, are real. One of the prisoners is freed of his chains and escapes the cave. The sun initially blinds the prisoner until his eyes make natural adjustments. The prisoner then sets his eyes on life outside of the cave in which he is completely shocked at the world he discovers and does not believe it can be real. The prisoner comes to realization...
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...the family, becomes a member of society. Society is an aggregate of many individuals, institutions, and functions, diversified in themselves, yet capable of a high degree of unification and integration for the social good. Man must live in society, conform to the customs of his group, and make the necessary adjustments to conventional standards, laws, and social forces. The experiences that the individual must undergo, as an interacting and cooperating member of society, are intimately related to the achievement of his final destiny. To equip the individual to meet these experiences and to be successful therein, various specific types of education are essential. Each of these types requires, fundamentally, the acquisition of specific knowledge, the formation of socially desirable habits and skills, the development of wholesome attitudes and appreciations, and the assimilation of the essential elements of the social heritage. For this assimilation to be effective, the social forces which influence the individual’s morality, personality, and character must be brought under proper control. This can be accomplished only when all agencies and institutions constituting society are governed completely and administered strictly according to the unchanging principles of the moral law. Those principles demand, first of all, that two major elements: 1) the true nature of the individual, (2) the true nature of society, must always be taken into account in providing types of education...
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...Socrates’ account of knowledge was illustrated in the standard definitions of epistemology and its ideas of justification and the difference between whether something is truth or belief. Understanding knowledge as Socrates’ describes this concept can be seen several places. The first is when he compares himself to a midwife of truth, which is an odd saying, but it is to portray that Socrates doesn’t create true ideas, but works to deliver them, examining the world for truth, which must be done through an analytical viewpoint of society and humanity itself. As seen through his actions of interviewing the people of Athens, the way to truth though his methods can’t be done through introspection and contemplation, but through question and answer...
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...or a question that needs research. The second step of collecting information through the variables of the research, or from past experimentation. Hypothesizing, is predicting the outcomes of the study involving the potential relationship between at least two variables (Jackson, 2012). Experimenting is the actual research that allows the researcher to establish the information of the study and to finally be able to draw conclusions about the main problem or reason for the experimentation. Scientific Method in Seeking Knowledge and Truth When using the scientific method in seeking knowledge and truth, researchers set the stage for their experiments. Usually, their research is founded from past experiments or studies, and past findings. The findings are based on subjective and objective material. According to Jackson, 2012, the scientific method involves invoking an attitude of skepticism; this is a person who questions validity, authenticity, or truth of something purporting to be factual. With the scientific method, the experimentation offers clear-cut data that either proves or disproves the research problem. According to Clarke, 1999, there has long been a widespread impression that science and the scientific method has always been at odds with the biblical worldview. One of the biggest conflicts between the scientific method and the...
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...1 Philosophy 101 Essay #1; Plato's Republic 23 September 2013 What does Plato's cave represent? The Allegory of the Cave, the cave represents people who perceive knowledge as something that is seen and heard and that is really what it is not about. These people, in a sense, would be the chained people in the cave. This shows us that people in this cave are in a world of misunderstanding. There are people that live their lives in the dark, which means, they live in just that cave and not know that there is something beyond the cave. They lack the truth because they live in such comfortable lives and that the shadows is all they are known to see. The artifacts that they see that casts these shadows are out of their sight and do not see that these are the real 'truths.' They think that its everything in their lives and try to make sense of these shadows in the best form they can. Then, all of the people play the game of knowing what they know about these shadows. The ones that guess them right and know these shadows very well are the ones that know everything there is to know about these shadows they know about. It is an illusion of what they think is real. They even start to respect the one that knows the most about these shadows that are the 'truths' to them. These artifacts represent the form of Good that they are able to see, and think the shadows are that sort of the form of Good that they see and believe in. Then, Plato supposes that these shadows are not supposed...
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...for knowledge-ascriptions. Rather, there is one contextually determined standard for the whole conversation. On this ‘single scoreboard’ view, when different participants use different standards, the semantics for ‘knows’ have a truth-value gap. This essay discusses a variety of cases in which truth-value gaps will arise on single-scoreboard contextualist views. These gaps will be widespread, but that is not an argument against single-scoreboard contextualism. Keith DeRose has argued extensively for contextualism about the word ‘knows’: that the standards for what counts as knowledge are determined by the context in which the knowledge ascription is made. But DeRose does not hold that the context-sensitivity of ‘knows’ means that both parties to an apparent dispute about knowledge can be right. Some contextually sensitive terms, such as ‘I’, can take on different semantic values in the course of a single exchange, so that one person’s utterance of “I am sitting” and another’s utterance of “I am not sitting” can both be true. DeRose (2004), however, argues that the standards for knowledge never vary within a single exchange in a way that could make true one person’s utterance of “S knows that p” and another’s utterance of “S doesn’t know that p.” In fact, DeRose argues that in such exchanges it may be that neither party’s utterance is true; “S knows that p” falls into a truth-value gap. This essay explores DeRose’s gap view and argues that on his view truth-value...
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...proposition in relation to two areas of knowledge. “Don't count your chickens before they hatch”. This idiom is a warning that man should not assume that something would impend and plan accordingly, for it might get foiled due to some unfortunate circumstance. The idiom portrays the nature of assumptions, that it cannot be ascertained. The proposition given revolves around the aspect of how there is an existence of limitations or assumptions when attempting to widen the scope of knowledge. Assumptions can be defined as a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof. In light of the definition, it is observed that assumptions cannot be tested to procure empirical knowledge hence they are assumed to remain true or perhaps not true in some cases. But, what is this knowledge? It is the association with facts, truths, or principles as from study or investigation. If knowledge is in conjunction with empirical truths, then do assumptions barricade the deepening of our knowledge since they are omnipresent and cannot be tested? This definition lends information that an attempt to know the world requires reasoning and a logical understanding without which it is hard to establish truths and facts. However, since any form of reasoning is based on a set of assumptions then in view of the above discussion, truths can never be produced. Hence, truth could in fact be produced with assumptions. This will be discussed in two areas of knowledge, Mathematics and Ethics respectively...
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