Knowledge is the mental state of having a belief about something. It is distinct from opinion and guesswork, because it must be based on a factual belief that is justified by a reason.
There are a number of different theories about what knowledge is and how it comes about. This article will discuss some of the most common ones.
What is knowledge?
Knowledge is a term that is used in the business world to describe the understanding of a subject or process. It can also be defined as information and understanding that someone has in their head, or that is stored in a computer system.
Many people are familiar with the term “knowledge management.” This is a broad concept that is most often used to refer to an organization’s ability to generate value from its intellectual and knowledge-based assets, as well as the way it shares those resources across the company. Although there is no universal definition of KM, most definitions agree that it includes the sharing and use of information as part of an organizational strategy.
The idea of knowledge itself is complex and has a number of different elements that contribute to it. For example, it is important to understand the difference between declarative and procedural knowledge.
Declarative knowledge is knowledge of facts that are true or logically correct. It is the information we use to determine our beliefs and actions.
Procedural knowledge, on the other hand, is knowledge of how to do something. It is the knowledge we use to make decisions, such as which products to purchase.
In addition, knowledge can be classified as explicit, implicit or tacit. Tacit knowledge is the information that is in people’s heads, but cannot be made explicit because it would be difficult to operationally set out in a tangible form.
One problem with this characterization is that it can lead to misleading conclusions about what is and is not knowledge. A good example of this is how a chemistry student can say, “H2 0” when answering a question about water, but he would not be considered to have knowledge about that chemical if he just said, “I know it’s H2 0.”
Another problem with the KM definition is that there is no standard for what constitutes knowledge. There is no single criterion that could account for all the things we might claim to know, even though most philosophers agree on what they think constitutes knowledge.
What is a belief?
Belief is the conviction that something is true or believable. People form beliefs from a young age, often based on what they are told and what they see and hear around them. These beliefs are not necessarily backed by facts or evidence, but they can influence your thoughts and behaviour.
Many people have religious beliefs; these can be based on faith in a supreme being or trust in another person. They may also be based on tradition, experience or scientific research.
Some religions, such as Christianity and Islam, are based on beliefs about the existence of God or gods. They are also based on beliefs about what is good or bad and how people should live their lives.
Other religions, such as Shinto, are based on beliefs about spirits of nature or kami. Beliefs are also a way of understanding how the world works, and can be used to explain things that we can’t understand or explain from purely physical science.
Beliefs can vary in how firm they are and how resistant to change they are in response to new evidence or information. They can also be influenced by social pressure and how open people are to different points of view or evidence.
Similarly, many people have an exclusivist belief system; that is, they believe that their particular religion is the only one that is correct or true and that all other beliefs are either wrong or a product of error. This belief can lead to a lack of willingness to accept other points of view and a tendency to ignore non-believers.
A belief is an occurrence of a propositional attitude or mental state, in contrast to attitudes such as acceptances and epistemic feelings, which have an evaluative element (see the section on attitudes in the Philosophy of Mind section). Some philosophers argue that beliefs are essentially normative, that is, they must be true in order to be considered a correct attitude.
Nevertheless, the broader philosophical and psychological debates on whether beliefs are essentially normative remain unresolved. Some, such as Fodor and Stalnaker, argue that the representational structure underwriting belief is linguistic; others, such as Harman and Field, claim it to be less language-like but more species-wide in character.
What is a belief that is true?
A belief that is true is a belief that has proper evidence supporting it, and is a good match for how things are in the world. It is also called a justified true belief (JTB), which was introduced by Ancient Greek philosopher Plato in the classical analysis of knowledge.
It can be tricky to determine whether a belief counts as knowledge, though. In a classic example, you believe that your dad is shoveling snow because you see someone who resembles him outside. However, that is only coincidence. In fact, you can’t say that you know that your dad is shoveling snow because there is no good reason to believe that he is, and the justification that supports it is fallible.
This situation is known as a Gettier problem, and it highlights a major issue in epistemology: What non-epistemic condition must be met to qualify as knowledge? The traditional answer is that a person must have true beliefs, but that requires a high standard of rationality. But that approach seems too harsh, especially considering that it discredits many everyday intuitions. It seems much more reasonable to think about knowledge as a combination of true beliefs and the necessary and sufficient conditions for their obtaining.
What is a belief that is not true?
The definition of a belief that is not true, though, can be anything but cut and dry. This can range from an overvalued idea to a delusion. The former is the most common, while the latter can be caused by a variety of psychiatric conditions. A delusion is a false or incorrect belief that is held with extraordinary conviction and subjective certainty, despite any evidence to the contrary. The best way to distinguish a delusion from the rest is to ask the affected person about their beliefs and then compare the results with the relevant standards of the discipline. The result is a much better understanding of their beliefs and a clearer path to treatment success.