Experience: The Role of Gaining and Experiencing Knowledge and Its Limitations
Philosophy is one of the areas that entail a lot of issues related to the universe and its content in totality. Varied philosophers have made fundamental contributions in the philosophical world. Most philosophers are interested in searching and expanding knowledge concerning specific issues. Even though most of the issues raised by philosophers are old, they are still alive and practical in the contemporary world. The epistemology that involves the analysis of all the theoretical problems that surrounds knowledge is essential to the topic (Husserl 147). Definition of the term knowledge is very controversial because philosophers have a varied interpretation of the whole concept. The most common definition of knowledge is that it is any true beliefs that can be justified based on specific guidelines. Therefore, approvals of knowledge depend on three conditions that include belief, truth, and justification (Husserl 149). For example, if a person does not believe in a specific phenomenon, it cannot be considered as knowledge. Consequently, knowledge constitutes issues that are true and can be supported by facts and figures. Moreover, knowledge must be justifiable in the sense that it involves appropriate reasoning that is authentic. It is essential to understand the origin of knowledge. Philosophers argue that knowledge is derived from empiricism and rationalism. Rationalism is reflected upon human reasoning. John Lock is a crucial figure who supports the ideology of empiricism. For instance, he argues that knowledge originates from human experiences or senses. John Locke asserts that at birth, the human mind is regarded to be tabula rasa because it lacks natural knowledge (Husserl 158). Through experience and senses, human beings can perceive specific issues in their environment thus forming different conceptions. Different roles and limitations are associated with gaining and experiencing knowledge.
One of the roles of gaining and experiencing knowledge is moral nourishment. Knowledge is crucial in the human environment because it shows different issues related to virtue in society. For instance, increasing and experiencing knowledge improves the ability of an individual to separate between good and evil (Smith 56). It means that the application of any belief that entails justifications can promote absolute happiness to an individual. For example, individuals who know good and evils are capable of making the right choices in life. Religious perspective can form the best ideology while discussing the relationship between knowledge and morality. Different religions hold different beliefs concerning the moral values that are required in society. For example, Christians believe that sin is punished by death. Such claim is viewed as true by these Christians since it is justified by various bible verses thus becoming knowledge. It is therefore essential to note that through evaluation of the bible as a source of information, Christians can develop specific ideas that influence their perception of the entire universe concerning sins. The above discussion implies that the acquisition of knowledge improves the essence of morality in an environment thus making it an essential part of human society.
Consequently, gaining and experiencing knowledge has played a significant role in the field of judgment. Human environment is full of activities that require an individual to make a concrete judgment. For example, different courts are consistently making judgments on different cases to estimate a particular behaviour. Therefore, knowledge impacts the decision-making process during such sessions because it enables the legal experts to integrate fundamental issues that can be supported by facts and evidence thus expressing the nature of knowledge (Husserl 149). Through the application of knowledge, people can easily avoid specific problems that can generate from misunderstandings. Different circumstances portray the relevance of knowledge acquisition in making decisions. For example, several countries have applied the concept of knowledge while making decisions on whether to wage war on other groups of people. For example, the United States of America determined the importance of invading Iraq based on their perception. Therefore, knowledge provides an opportunity for individuals to weigh various variables thus determining the feasibility of a particular statement of intent.
Moreover, gaining and experiencing knowledge performs the role of notifying people concerning the causes and effects of the particular phenomenon. Different philosophers have used knowledge to explain the reasons why certain things operate in a specific manner. For example, the philosophy of cosmology that was formulated by Copernicus explained the aspect of revolution in the universe (Vesel and Paolo 189). The use of knowledge aims at convincing the entire population that some of the occurrences in the universe are as a result of specific forces that exist across the world. The knowledge can also be instrumental in explaining issues such as economic problems that can be observed in some countries globally. For example, financial analysts can argue that the poor economic status of a state can be caused by poor management of economic activities. Such forms of arguments can be a product of personal perceptions of the situation that is supported by some factual records. Therefore, knowledge is significant since it inducts people on the possible outcomes of events thus enabling individuals to balance the laws of nature efficiently.
On the other hand, gaining and experiencing knowledge has a variety of limitations that can be observed in both the ancient and contemporary world. One of the limitations of possessing and experiencing knowledge is that it can contribute to making irrational decisions that have adverse impacts on the lives of certain groups of people (Kotter-Grühn, Dana and Yannick 89). Even though knowledge promotes decision making, some people have faced hostile effects of such actions. For example, the United States of America started the invasion of Iraq without realizing the possible impacts of such activities on the lives of ordinary Iraq citizens. For example, the war led to killings of some innocent people that were perceived to be criminals. All these explain that knowledge can be harmful if it is misused.
Another limitation of gaining and experiencing knowledge is that it contains a component of biases. For example, many people deliver knowledge a manner that expresses some forms of biases (Kotter-Grühn, Anna and Yannick 91). It means that knowledge can be made subjective when it is used to fulfil personal interest thus discriminating other people. For example, even though some leaders know that dictatorship is wrong, they continue to provide support to such dictators since they aim at accumulating some resources. For example, Saddam Hussein received assistance from different individuals.
To sum up, it is evident that gaining and experiencing knowledge performs specific roles in society. The functions of knowledge are that it enables an individual to determine moral and immoral values within an environment, forms the basis for decision making, and informs people on the causes and effects of certain activities in the universe. Similarly, the limitations of possessing knowledge include biases and subjectivity that emerge in the course of application of knowledge.
Works Cited
Husserl, Edmund. “From Locke to the Radical Consequence of Berkeley’s Purely Immanent Philosophy.” First Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht, vol. 14, no.1 (2019): pp.145-161.
Kotter-Grühn, Dana, Anna E. Kornadt, and Yannick Stephan. “Looking beyond chronological age: Current knowledge and future directions in the study of subjective age.” Gerontology, vol.62, no.1 (2016): 86-93.
Smith, R. Scott. Virtue ethics and moral knowledge: philosophy of language after MacIntyre and Hauerwas. Routledge, 2017.
Vesel, Matjaž, and Paolo Palmieri. “Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher. Cosmic Order, the Movement of the Earth, and the Scientific Revolution.” Aestimatio: Critical Reviews in the History of Science, no.11 (2016): 188-190.