CONCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE

Conception of Knowledge



Conception of Knowledge

Introduction

Variously defined as the act by which one becomes the other in a purposeful way; the act by which one is aware of something in thought, with or without the aid of the senses; the habit or ability to recall such an act; or the matter that is the object of such an act or habit. This article discusses the common notion of knowledge, its definition and characteristics, its various classifications, and the problem it poses—all from the viewpoint of Thomistic philosophy.Knowledge rarely presents itself as a problem to the average person; he simply takes it for granted as something that in some way puts him in contact with things other than himself. He also recognizes it as something unique, even though he may not be able to define it or even to describe it articulately. This inability stems, in part, from his discerning so many different types of knowledge; for example, seeing, imagining, remembering, and reasoning can all be included under his notion. He knows facts, and he knows persons; he knows his business or profession; he knows some science and some philosophy. 

Although such a notion of knowledge suffices for the average person, the philosopher cannot be satisfied with it. He must come to grips with knowledge in its proper nature and its general and detailed classifications. Reflecting upon knowledge, he notes that it poses problems: what are the processes through which it occurs; does it have any validity; what is the possibility of attaining certitude? Such questions open broad areas for investigation; yet they present such difficulty that opposed and often contradictory theories of knowledge continue to have their expositors and defenders.

Discussion and Analysis

Knowledge may be classified from many different points of view. On the basis of origin, natural knowledge, achieved by the unaided use of human cognitive powers, may be distinguished from supernormal knowledge, which derives from some divine assistance given in revelation. From the standpoint of the objects that man can know, the constitutional division is that into SENSE knowledge and conceptual knowledge. Sense knowledge arises from the immediate impact of bodily things upon the sense organs of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. When elaborated by such internal senses as the imagination, memory, and the cogitative power, the content of sense knowledge becomes the basis for intellectual knowledge, the characteristic of which is its abstractness—a freedom and disengagement from all the conditions of material existence. (Max, 1924) Intellectual Knowledge

Knowledge enables man not merely to know—all animals can do this—but to know abstractly, in a detached and unadulterated fashion. Such knowing has no counterpart in the senses which depend on bodily organs and limited by them and their conditions. Intellectual knowledge alone is properly called thinking, since it alone can present objects to man in the abstract mode free from the limitations and conditions of matter, time, and place. Intellectual knowledge alone, grasping not the external appearances or surface qualities of things, but their mere essence, penetrates to the underlying reality of things ...