PHILOSOPHY

Knowledge:
“Knowledge is the relation between the knower and the known.”
“Knowledge is the connection/link/relation between the subject and the object.”

The weaker the link between the knower (subject) and the known (object), the fragile will
be the knowledge. If the object is different then the structure of knowledge is different.
For example, the stronger the connection will be with God, the more will be the
knowledge about Him.

Sources of Knowledge

There are four major sources of knowledge: 1. Sense Experiences 2. Rationality

3. Intuition 4. Authority

1. Sense Experiences:
In order to have awareness into the paradigm of object, sense experiences will be one
of the sources. Human beings have five senses, the sense of sight, the sense of hearing,
the sense of smell, the sense of taste, and the sense of touch. According to parasists, the
one who has no senses gets no knowledge at all.

2. Rationality:
Rationality is another source of knowledge. According to the rationalists, it is more
reliable than any other source.

3. Intuition:
Intuition is another source of knowledge. When something suddenly blinks us or is
revealed to us, then it is known as intuition. According to intuitionists, sense experiences
and rationality is unreliable and so they think inferior of the parasists and the rationalists.

4. Authority:
When someone more knowledgeable than you tells you about something then this
source of knowledge is known as authority. According to authoritarians, all the other
sources of knowledge are just the means and not the knowledge. The knowledge lies with
the authority.
For example, God sends the prophets for the guidance of man. But believing in the
authority is important.

There are other sources as well like, instincts, emotions, social awareness.

Kinds of Philosophers

There are four kinds of philosophers:

 1. Synoptic Philosophers
2. Active Philosophers (Activists)
a. Prophetic Philosophers
b. Pragmatic Philosophers (Pragmatists)
c. Existentialists
3. Analytic Philosophers (Analysts)
4. Antinomy Philosophers (Antinomians)

Synoptic Philosophers:

They believe that every dimension of knowledge should be accomplished. But man
knows about only one sphere and he can define only that sphere. He cannot define
everything. We divide our studies and knowledge which is fatal. In the older times, the
wise men used to mention the whole link of one thing with another because of the depth
of their knowledge. Today the knowledge has extended to large extent and so its hard to
know everything.

Difference Between Knowledge and Information

It is the age of information and technology which means that there is dissemination of
information from everywhere. Especially, people from the under-developed world think
that knowledge and information is one and the same thing. They assign the two the same
meaning, thinking that they both are synonymous. They think, that information gets them
knowledge.

But there is a huge difference between knowledge and information. Philosophers think of
the two as completely separate. Knowledge is far more superior than information.

According to us, information is neutral, unbiased, neither right nor wrong, it is neither
good nor bad. It is just the information and it is of no use. Informers are workers who
treat news as a commodity. News is sold as supply creates its own demand.

Information is a data just like a raw material. What we derive from this is knowledge of
different kinds. If one cannot access the information then it is useless because one cannot
convert it into knowledge. Different people derive different facts from the same
information data. It usually depends on their points of view. Thus, like this, the
information gets value-loaded and does not remain value-neutral any more.

Problems of Knowledge

There are two main problems of knowledge. They are to find out:
1. Which facts are important 2.Which facts are true.

As we know that information is not value-neutral or unbiased. It is acquired in order to

get some aims and goals. The information gathered can sometimes also damage many
points of view but it is still presented in an unprejudiced manner. But in actual, it is not
the case. The newspapers select their news related to their interests. Even those who
spread and disperse the news, keep it in their own personal interests.

Every man has his own point of view about a matter and so he will send the information
under this consideration. One always looks at the reality through a particular point of
view he/she holds. People’s points view are formulated under two conditions.
1. Their position and 2. Their present.

1. Which facts are important:

1. Position: There are two kinds of positions for any man. One is the given position and
the other is the earned position.
By position, it means one’s status and place in society. Whether one is a girl/boy,
white/black, muslim/non-muslim, literate or otherwise. One’s point of view changes
because of one’s position in the society and it directly affects one’s points of view. For
example, all the muslims around the world should feel the same as they all have the
similar position on the basis of their religion.

2. Present: There are two kinds of presents for any man. One is the mental attitude of his
and the other is the mental state he has.

Mental Attitude: By mental attitude, it means the mental or the intellectual approach of
a person.
a. Optimism: Optimists always see the positive aspect of any matter first and try to stick
with it. They always minimise the worst condition or scenario about any situation.
b. Pessimism: Pessimists are the ones who always see the darker side of anything first
and always think in negative terms about any matter.
c. Agnosticism: Agnostics are always uncertain and unclear about their decisions on any
matter. They always get to know about anything when they get through it and when they
are done with their responsibilities.
d. Scepticism: Sceptics always doubt everything on every occasion.

All the four types of people consider themselves to be real in approach. They are all
realists.

Mental State: