A Philosophical Understanding of Researching Gangs in the NTE - Essay Example

As postulated by Plato, the Greek philosopher (427-347 BC), knowledge can be distinctively considered as “Justified True Belief”. The theory encompasses major queries regarding the basis of knowledge, the methodical approach of its acquisition, people’s understanding level, and how & why is it necessary to know what one perceives. There is a subtle difference epistemologically between the theory and practical (of what is gathered by experience) aspects of knowledge. (Watson, 2004) John Locke advocates the idea of Innatism, which proposes that the knowledge accumulated in an individual through experience, is actually born of that person’s pre-existing sub-conscious knowledge base.

Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that lays emphasis on the role of experience, especially the experience based on constant observations by the five senses. Some empiricists think that all the knowledge is empirical while others separate mathematics and logic from the stream. (Fumerton, 2005) The German philosopher Immanuel Kant of the 18th century states, "although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises from experience" (Taylor, 1989, p.80). From here also we get the essence of “Transcendental Absolute” as guided by the theorists of Innatism.

In his works of Personal Knowledge, Michael Polanyi attempts to bring out the distinction between “knowing that” and “knowing how”. The level of consciousness is heightened through the attainments of multiple experiences and different perception levels. The epistemological approach identifies two basic types of knowledge; one is “A priori” which interprets the structure of knowledge is independent of empirical experiences and the other one “A posteriori” is justified by the experiencing through the practical way.

Hume’s epistemological treatise on natural knowledge