The Three Types of Knowledge

Otherwise known as the Fourth Webassignment

But actually it's only the third online.

So it shall further be known as the third, for the second is now declared unnumbered.

  1. Experiential Knowledge
    Experiential knowledge is knowledge obtained through firsthand encounters with something. They are perceived through the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
    An example of experiential knowledge is fire. Those who have experienced fire, which should be most people our age and older, know that fire produces heat, perceived through the sense of touch; fire produces light, perceived through the sense of sight; fire has a distinct smoky scent, perceived through the sense of smell. All of these things are firsthand.
    from www.its.caltech.edu/


    from whysanity.net     		Another form of experiential knowledge is that of empirical knowledge. Basically, it is the knowledge obtained through observing experiments and measuring the results.
  2. Authoritative Knowledge
    Authoritative Knowledge is the knowledge obtained from an authority, or a person who claims to have knowledge that you do not. Where experiential knowledge was firsthand, knowledge from authority can be secondhand or third-hand. Authority knowledge can be knowledge from Jesus Christ. Doesn't he know something of God that we do not?
    from family-genealogy-online.com
    A problem presented by authoritative knowledge is trusting your source. You must balance the sources pros and cons and ultimately deem it trustworthy or not. You have to also take into effect motives and reputations and ability to verify that facts. Fear of the cost is the reaction human beings take when confronted by an idea that conflicts, or could possibly conflict, with opinions and beliefs that they entertain. When one of these blasphemous ideas appears we become skeptical and are up at arms to protect what we believe is a part of us. That is Fear of the Cost.

  3. Reason

    Reason is the power to think in such a way that we proceed from what we know to what we do not yet know. Basically it is the process of connecting the dots to form the picture. You connect from dot A to dot B in a straight or gradual line. Logically, you do not jump around until you hit B.
    • Deduction
      All p are q, a is p, therefore a is q. a > b, b > c, therefore a > c. if p then q, not q, therefore not p. No p are q, but q, therefore not p.
      All DVD players can play cartoons.
      Cartoons are movies.
      All DVD players can play movies.       		Two is better than one.
      Three is better than two.
      Three is better than one.       		If you are in Seoul, then you are in Korea.
      You are not in Korea.
      You are not in Seoul.       		No boy is a girl.
      It is a girl.
      Therefore it is not a boy.

    • Induction
      Induction is the universal generalization of a situation that you have had limited experiences with. It is a statement that you make after eliminating the possibility of it in your mind. It is not justifiable in fact and could very easily be contradicted if there does exist that thing you claimed did not. These statements have to be supported by personal experience.
      A few examples of this:
      • All needles hurt. Do acupuncture needles hurt? Has this person experienced acupuncture? I have not, but I hear it does not hurt.
      • Every person has a brain.
      • Rain is never red.


A few links

Three Types of Knowledge
Definition of Deduction
Definition of Induction


This concludes my study guide for the Three Types of Knowledge. I hope this has been helpful to you. Thank you for visiting. If you have any questions or comments please email me at [email protected] or [email protected]. Thank you.
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