EPISTEMOLOGY AND TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE

 Don’t be quick to judge anyone because they approach things differently but rather study their view

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy investigating the nature of knowledge and truth. Epistemology deals with things like; sources of knowledge, the reliability of these sources, the nature of truth, the difference between knowing and believing, and what we can know beyond the information provided by the senses. It is not a philosophy that is distant from our daily experiences it rather deals with inquiries like substantiating something, proving, elaborating, or clarifying statements. We can detect lies by using epistemology that points to epistemological issues like lack of coherence. Epistemology as a branch of philosophy does not create new knowledge but rather helps us to analyze knowledge. Epistemologists have categorized knowledge as follows;

Authoritative knowledge

This is knowledge established by accepting someone’s authority. It is knowledge obtained from a ‘recognized trusted’ source. In our Ugandan education system, we have taken a direction of science whose point of reference is experiments. Numerous experiments are how science concludes that something is a theory. The theory is then trusted as the authority of science.

For many scholars, these theories are written in books, encyclopedias, and any other literature believed to have been written by experts. In this kind of knowledge, people easily accept and trust the information they get from such sources because it has been conventionally accepted for a long period of time.

A teacher has to demonstrate extraordinary competence in knowledge towards your learners to make them believe you. In many of our courts, one will need to provide evidence to their claims to provide a conventional source of information. If the information provided is doubtable, it is not trusted neither the bearer.

This kind of knowledge is perceived by those who believe it to be the highest point of reference. Anyone who questions it is quickly labeled with all sorts of possible descriptions by the followers of such knowledge. No one is supposed to question it or even think beyond it.

Revealed knowledge

This is the knowledge that God has disclosed to human beings. They carry the philosophy that few people receive the knowledge on behalf of others and then transfer it to others (read the Philosophy of Martin Buber and Thomas of Aquinas). For the religious, the word of God is in the bible, Qur’an, Bhagavad-Gita, and Upanishads are words from God and so are revealed knowledge.

This kind of knowledge is very hard to cross-examine or even question. It normally has no logical basis and often lacks coherence. It is a kind of knowledge that just requires belief and knowing. No one can question it because it is often believed to be from God.

We have encountered so many people who claim to have such knowledge. Think of people who call themselves prophets because they seem to know what is in the future. No human sense can project itself to the future to claim knowledge except by claiming that it is revealed from the Lord.

Intuitive knowledge

Intuition is defined as the power to understand things like a situation, or somebody’s feelings immediately without the need for consciousness, reasoning, or study. Intuition is the sudden eruption into a consciousness of an idea or conclusion produced by a long process of unconscious work. it is a sudden understanding of something. Through intuition, a person makes sudden moves and normally arrives at accurate conclusions without having had previous exposure to a topic or experience. The following are common with intuitive knowledge;

·         Previous experiences cannot be ruled out because they are at a subconscious level.

·         There is no logical thinking about a given problem

·         But in a sudden flash of insight (or instantly) one recognizes a solution to a problem.

I was one time with my grandmother tilling the land for sowing millet in our village and she suddenly stopped the tilling. I asked what had happened but no answer from her mouth until she told me to stop and go home. Upon reaching, we found my dad had just arrived from his workplace where he had been for three years without returning. This kind of sudden knowledge is referred to as intuitive knowledge. It is another kind of knowledge that cannot be subjected to rational tests because it has no logical basis.

Rational knowledge

This is the one we obtain by the exercise of reason alone without the aid or observation of the concrete situation or object. According to rationalists the mind itself can know the truth. There may be bits and pieces of information through the senses but unless the mind organizes and analyses them, there will be no knowledge.

You will notice a person asking so many questions relating to the subject matter. Rationalists have a difficult time with people who believe in authoritative knowledge. For them, every kind of knowledge must be organized in a certain manner for them to make sense of it. Conventionists usually find such kind of knowledge useless and don’t usually take it.

So, the source of knowledge is in the mind and not in the senses. Through reasoning, we deliver universally valid judgments that are consistent with one another. Included in rational knowledge are the principles of formal logic and pure mathematics which can be computed only through abstract reasoning.

Empirical knowledge

This is knowledge confirmed by the evidence of the senses. In contrast to the rationalist's view empiricists insist that the source of knowledge is found in the senses, not in the mind. By seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting we form conceptions of the world around us. Whereas the rationalists tell us to think things through the empiricists advise us to look and see. In sciences empirical knowledge is emphasized because the emphasis is on the use of senses testing and verifying. The more the experiments the more the empirical evidence and the more the subject is likely to be trusted.  

In our everyday society, we must be able to differentiate the types of knowledge possessed by different people we interact with. This will help us understand them and know how to respond. It is imprudent to quickly label anyone stupid just because they don’t believe or see things the way you see them. Imagine a Christian calling an atheist stupid just because he does not believe in the knowledge a Christian claims to have received from God. If God wanted all of us to know what you know why did he not reveal the knowledge to all of us?

Therefore, before you judge someone, ask yourself whether the person subscribes to your kind or knowledge. We find others judging their peers and irrational and then wonder what authority they use to call one such. No one has a right to call anyone mentally deficient because another may judge them so.