How do you know you know what you know? (Use arguments backed by information from the "Theory of Knowledge" packet.)
10 Comments
Melissa Looby
9/29/2010 07:41:19 am
Knowledge is a finiky subject. What one believes to be known is not belived to be known by another. According to Plato, there are three tests to be sure that you know you know something: You must believe the statement, your belief must be true, and lastly your belief must be justified.
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Lauren Errichiello
9/29/2010 08:10:23 am
How do you know what you know? According to Plato and his colleagues, “for you to be sure you know something, for you to have certain knowledge, knowledge-by-description, you have to subject a statement of what you know to three tests.” Test one says you must believe the statement, test two says your belief has to be true, and test three says your belief must be justified.
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Lexi Fees
9/29/2010 09:43:37 am
After reading through the theory of knowledge packet, I also directed my attention to Plato and his fellow academicians' theory to "prove you know what you know." The theory has three steps that are supposedly able to prove you know something: you must believe in the statement, your belief has to be true, and your true belief must be justified. Although the theory brought up some good points, I have to agree with Lauren and say that I find the theory is not a definite source of proving one's knowledge. The first step is the only step that I can fully agree with. I do believe that in order to know something you must believe in it; that is obvious. However, the second and third steps seem a little sketchy to me. Perhaps religion is the best example to disprove these steps. Billions of people around the world believe in some sort of deity, however, there is no rational way to prove that a god exists; that doesn't stop people from practicing religion though. Those billions of believers still have knowledge of god, whether it comes from the Bible, the Qur'an, their pastors, preachers, ministers, fathers, or priests. The knowledge is still in their minds, even if it remains unjustified. In closing, knowledge can be defined as something that is or may be known, not necessarily something that is true. In my opinion, you know you know something when you can explain it to another person in your own words. Simple as that.
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Amy Sticha
9/29/2010 12:09:00 pm
I'm inclined to agree with Lexi and Lauren. Plenty of things that we are near-certain of cannot be proven to be true or untrue, and we thus cannot truly know them. Take the atomic model that is currently in use. We have no conclusive proof that this is the correct model, but we have a fair amount of evidence indicating it is, so this is the model we use. We do not know that we know the atomic form, but we are fairly sure we do.
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Katie Sprague
9/29/2010 12:45:20 pm
I know what I know based on my own perception. The way my senses transmit information to my brain shape my knowledge. This could be different from person to person, however, it is an impossible theory to test. My view of reality is severely skewed and is relative to my experiences, my opinions, and my beliefs. I am in agreement with Amy. Technically, it is impossible to ever prove anything to be fully true. This however, does not stop people from fully believing their half-truths. Reason is what allows us make connections and to sort things out logically. This allows us to be “certain” that we know things. Reason enables people to have consistent, believable knowledge. Sufficient logic results in belief, and true belief results in justifiable knowledge that withstands Plato’s three tests.
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Maggie DeGrand
9/29/2010 01:13:20 pm
The quick answer to this question is there is no way to prove that we know what we know. Plato’s tests for true knowledge are vague and subjective to consistantly erroneous human perception. The first test is the easiest to pass, as it involves the individual’s belief and nothing else. The second and third tests (that the belief is true and it is justified) debunk every theory from atomic to evolutionary. Take, for instance, the lunar landing back in 1969. There are conspiracy theorists that claim the Apollo team never actually went to the moon, that the video footage was faked. That fact alone would fail the test that the belief is true, because someone decided to deny the lunar landing. As it is nearly impossible to determine if anything is really true, we are forced to live with our assumptions and half-truths; so we can never know anything at all.
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Ava Henning
9/29/2010 01:25:58 pm
If you think about it nothing can technically ever be "proven" true. There will always be that one annoying skeptic who will stop at nothing to prove the truth false. Like Katie, I believe that what are truths to you are based solely on what you have grown up with and the experiences you have had. The people around you and the situations you are in shape how you understand life. No one can ever be convinced completely of anything. It takes a certain amount of belief. The "truths" that dominate the world, are based on popular belief. For instance, beliefs that are pasted down from generation to generation will likely be considered truths before long. What is true to you is only relevant to yourself. It is based only on your life, which is why it is impossible to prove.
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Hannah Diedrick
9/30/2010 12:14:37 am
Plato states that you must believe in your statement, believe that its true and then have it justified. There are many things that humans know in their consience. But, when asked to prove it they can't. They don't know how to explain it. Take any person who is religious. Can they prove scientifically that God is real? No, of course not, there are "relics" but that was just a way for the church to make money, we don't know if they are actually what they are said to be.
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Chris Hansen
9/30/2010 12:16:17 am
Knowledge as we "know" it, is a psychological concept of being able to stow information within our brain cells. How do we know what we know? By the effects of the results that we see from happenings in the world and how they impact ourselves. For example, we can thow a baseball through our neighbor's window and see the results. There will be broken glass, angry people, and consequences to follow. Thats how we know we threw the ball. So basically, we know what we know due to results and consequences.
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Frank Cusimano
9/30/2010 12:01:12 pm
Knowledge is purely relative. Knowing can not be known because there is know concrete basis for which it can be based. So you can only know what you know based off of your own thoughts and principles. What one person knows they know is different from what another person knows they know, but each is right. S long as you believe you know what you know, then you for sure know it.
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