Essay 4 / Mari

Essay 4 / Mari

"Without application in the world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished"
1. Key terms
  1. Diminished = Decreased
  2. Application = To put something into use or operation / links to relevance (but don't focus on that!)
  3. Value = Importance, worth or usefulness of something
    1. The value of knowledge = if the knowledge generated leads to the production of reliable knowledge claims that can be accepted as 'true'
  4. Knowledge
    1. 2 types
      1. Personal Knowledge: How does the non-application of personal knowledge impact its value?
      2. Shared Knowledge: Does the nature of shared knowledge already mean that it is applied? What's the value of this?
      3. What is the value of these two types of knowledge?
    2. What does knowledge mean in the title? Does it explain the physical world? What about the world that we know as humans (including intangible things?)
  5. The meaning of diminished is further pushed forward because it is "greatly diminished" which shows how important the term is in the title
2. Potential AOKs to be explored
  1. The Arts (Literature)
    1. Reflects the society of the time that it is created
      1. Can be subjective
      2. Can be inaccurate or exaggerated
        Example: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
    2. Can be created by anyone - an expression of inner self/emotion
    3. What is application of art? There are many viewpoint in the arts, and not everyone shares the same outlook of something. It's an area of knowledge where the methodology is very subjective
    4. MAYBE USE THIS AS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE AT THE END OF THE ESSAY!
    5. How much is the arts 'applied' in the world? Does it have relevance in the world??
    6. Maybe the arts are useful just because they are?
  2. Natural Sciences
    1. Seeks to explain natural phenomena
    2. Methodology: Scientific method, peer review, repeatability
      1. Flaws in these methods? Subjectivity involved?
      2. Who is paying for the research?
      3. Statistics? They be manipulated!
    3. Knowledge in the NS seeks to answer 'how' questions of the world, therefore almost all of the knowledge is generated to explain some sort of phenomena
    4. (mostly) objective knowledge
    5. What about disproven theories? Are they still relevant?
      1. Theories are and always will be relevant until they are disproven. Theories today might be disproven in the future, but until then they are relevant to the real world because the knowledge that exists within them corresponds to reality and can widely be accepted as true
    6. The theories in natural sciences aren't used by everyone though right? Because there are individuals that have almost no interest in the theories that are presented in this area of knowledge. Therefore these people do not apply the knowledge in the natural sciences to the world that they know, because they have not been exposed to these theories. Therefore, it is not applied? The knowledge then has no value to them?
3. KQ: To what extent does the value of knowledge in ethics and the natural sciences depend on the application of it in the 'real world'?
  1. KC1: The value of knowledge can be largely dependent on what an individual perceives as 'useful' (personal knowledge)
    1. Ethics - People have different ideas of 'truth' and different ethical values. Pragmatic truth can probably be the most subjective form of truth because it explores what is most useful to an individual (include other truths) also what about the ethical theories?
      1. Example:
    2. Counterclaim: The judicial system has a set of laws (rules) it abides by and when it comes to court cases, individuals' ideas of truth in this case are irrelevant because the final judgement comes from whether the persecutor has gone against the law
  2. (diff. perspective) KC3: Some shared knowledge offers subjective viewpoints of the world which can be valuable as it offers perspective
    1. Counterclaim: The subjective viewpoints may not be valued by a vast majority of people
    2. Example: The Arts (Literature)
    3. The Arts have value because it shows the qualitative values of the world and shows the many many different ways the world can be viewed by different people
  3. KC2: Knowledge is created to explain the world (shared knowledge)
    1. Example: Natural Sciences - Pea plant experiment by Gregor Mendel
      1. Shows how simple things can explain a bigger picture!
        Shows how Mendel applied the results of his experiment to a larger picture - Prime example of how knowledge is generated to explain the world therefore all knowledge that makes sense scientifically can be considered to have value
    2. Counterclaim: Some of these 'explanations' (theories) can be later disproven, so the accuracy and relevance is then limited. (Include example of a disproven theory)
    3. What is explained? Why do we want to explain it? Who is 'explaining' it? To what extent can we trust the claims made by the 'experts'?
  4. Conclusion
    1. All knowledge offers value of some kind, as frankly, knowledge would not exist had it not have a purpose. There are theories and knowledge that has been disproven, but until they are disproven they have value because it can be accepted as true. There are
4. History
  1. Methodology: Primary sources (historical documents, pictures, interviews), secondary sources (interpretations of events etc.)
  2. History helps in improving the future, making sure that the mistakes made in the past don't happen again
  3. Revisionism - New evidence being discovered in order to evaluate what happened and hypothesise what it all means and incorporates current events
Questions that arise from this
1. How frequently do we have to apply knowledge for it to be considered valuable?
2. What kind of knowledge is considered 'valuable'?
3. What kind of application does this question mean?
4. To what extent is personal knowledge more valuable than shared knowledge?
5. To what extent is knowledge valuable in the arts and in ethics? What about ethics and the natural sciences?
6. To what extent does the value of knowledge depend on the application of it?
7. Do we have to apply knowledge frequently for it to have some sort of value? What type of knowledge is this?
Simple terms: The value of knowledge depends on the relevance of it in the world, and without relevance, the knowledge has little value

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	Created by marisusannahalmi over 8 years ago