What is knowledge?

Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:49:20 +0000

By Dr.Kashiwa Bulaya

Let us examine in detail the process of cognition of the world.

What is Knowledge?

Knowledge is active, purposive reflection of the objective world and its laws of development in man’s mind.  The source of knowledge is the outside world around man.  It acts on man and arouses in him corresponding sensations, ideas and concepts.

Man sees forests, fields and mountains, feels the heat and sees the light of the sun, hears the singing of birds, smells the scent of flowers.  If these objects existing outside of man’s consciousness did not act on him he would not have the idea about them.

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It should be noted that man not only perceives objects and phenomena of the world, but actively, practically, acts upon them.

Scientific theory of knowledge is based on recognition of the objective world, its objects and phenomena as the sole source of human knowledge. Some scholars do not consider objective reality the source of our knowledge.

Such scholars allege that the object of knowledge is either consciousness, sensation of the individual man (subject) or some kind of a mystic consciousness which is supposed to exist independent of man (take “absolute idea” “universal spirit” etc.)

Scientific Theory bases the Process of Cognition on Practice

The fundamental distinction of the scientific theory of knowledge is that it bases the process of cognition on practice, the material, production activities of people.  It is in the course of this activity that man comes to know objects and phenomena. In scientific theory practice is both the point of departure, the basis of the process of knowledge; and the criterion of truth, of correctness of knowledge.  The stand-point of life, of practice, should be first and fundamental in the theory of knowledge.

It is in practice, in the material productive activity of people that knowledge manifests its activity, its purposeful nature.

Man actively influences the world in the course of practice not all by himself, but together with other people, with society as a whole.  And this means that if the object of knowledge, its source, is the material world, then the subject of knowledge and its carrier is the human society.  Recognition of the social nature of knowledge is a key distinctive feature of theory of knowledge.

Knowledge is an endless process of approximation of thought to the cognised object, the movement of thought from ignorance to knowledge, from incomplete, inexact knowledge to more complete and more exact.  Replacing obsolete theories with new ones, rendering old theories more exact, knowledge matches onward, revealing ever new sides of reality.

In as much as practice serves as the basis of knowledge, let us examine it and the role it plays in the cognitive process.

Practice-Starting Point  and Basis of the Process of Knowledge

Practice is the active work of people in transforming nature and society.  The basis of practice is labour, material production.  Practice also includes the political side of life, the class struggle, the national liberation movement, scientific experiments and experience.  Practice is social in character.  It is, above all, the activity of large groups of people, of all working people, the producers of material wealth, and not of isolated individuals.

In the course of practice man not only transforms objects existing in nature, but also creates objects which are not available in ready-made form in nature.  Man produces many artificial materials which at times surpass anything known to nature in durability and other important properties.

Practice is the starting point and basis of knowledge.  Why?  First of all because knowledge itself rose on the basis of practice, chiefly under the influence of material production.  From the very first steps of his existence man had to work, to win his means of livelihood.

In the process of work he came up against the forces of nature and by transforming them and making them serve his needs he gradually came to understand them.

The further development of production demanded new knowledge.  Even in the antiquity man was faced with the need to measure land areas, to count the number of tools and the products he made.  As a result, the first rudiments of mathematics appeared.

Man built dwellings, bridges, roads, irrigation systems and other structures which called for the knowledge of mechanics.

Thus, under the influence of practical requirements his cognitive abilities gradually developed and gave birth to science.  Practice was also behind the birth of social sciences such as political economy, psychology, sociology, economics etc.

Practice provides instruments and equipment for scientific cognition and thereby facilitates the progress of knowledge.  Without super powerful practical accelerators and other very intricate scientific instruments and installations produced by modern industry scientists would not have been able to discover the secrets of the atomic nucleus.

We cannot imagine science today without electronic microscopes, space rockets and many other simple and complex instruments of knowledge such as computers, cellular phones etc. All these instruments are in fact the product of the material, practical activities of people.

Practice is the aim

 of Knowledge

Practice is not only the basis, but also the aim of knowledge.  Man studies the surrounding world and learns the laws of its development in order to utilise the results of knowledge in his practical activities.  It is true that these results are not always applied at once.  The disintegration of the atom, for example, was discovered during the beginning of the twentieth century but it was only about the mid and towards the end of the twentieth century that man learned how to use atomic energy for practical purposes.  And although often decades pass before scientific discoveries are applied, they are all determined, brought into being by the requirements of life.

Unity of Theory  and Practice

Cognition is one of the forms of people’s activity – it is their theoretical activity.  But theory in itself is incapable of changing reality and this sets it apart from practice.  Theory only reflects the world, generalises mankind’s practical activity.  But, while generalising practice, theory exerts a reverse influence upon it, contributes to its development.  Theory without practice is pointless, practice without theory is blind.   Theory indicates the way and helps to find the most efficient means of achieving practical objectives.

Let us take, for example, natural science.  It has arisen on the basis of practice, as a result of the generalisation of people’s production experience but at the same time it renders valuable assistance to production.

It helps to discover new methods of production, creates highly efficient machinery and equipment, artificial raw and other materials, and so on.

Scientific theory is very important for society’s development.  Being a correct, deep reflection of reality, a generalisation of the people’s struggle, it guides the colonised and suppressed people and their allies in the struggle against colonialism and neocolonialism.

What makes scientific theory viable is that it is true and, by revealing the true laws of social development, it enables progressive political parties not only to act correctly today, but also to foresee the future, to scientifically plan practical activities for many years ahead.

A progressive political party regards it as its sacred duty to further develop scientific theory, investigate the general laws of society and continue to promote the process of social development.

Unity of theory and practice is the supreme principle of scientific theory of development. This principle has acquired particularly great significance at the present time when cadres have to keep raising their knowledge of theory and efficiency; when the present stage of social struggle and construction of a new social order call for prompt solution of the complex problems relating to economic and social management.

Therefore, the theory must continue to pave the way for practice and ensure a strictly scientific approach to the management of the economy and cultural life of people.  Broad and well-organised theoretical work is a beacon illuminating the road to social progress.

From Living Perception to Abstract Thought

Knowledge does not stand still, but constantly moves and develops.  This development of knowledge is expressed in its movement from direct living perception to abstract thought.  From living perception to abstract thought and from this to practice – such is the path of the cognition of the truth.

Sensory Knowledge

Knowledge always begins with a study of objects of the outside world with the aid of our sense organs.  This we know from our day-to-day experience.  If we want to study an unfamiliar object, we first of all carefully examine it, and if need be, touch it with our fingers, taste it, etc.

Direct perception of things is the initial phase, the first step on the road to knowledge.  Man, on coming into contact with objects and phenomena of nature in the course of his practical activity gains his first impressions of these objects and phenomena through his sense organs.

The sense organs are a kind of window through which the outside world “penetrates” man’s consciousness and which enables him to perceive the colours, odours, and sounds of nature, the taste of its fruits etc.

Sensation is a main form of Sensory Knowledge

Sensation is the main form of sensory knowledge; sensation is a reflection of individual properties, distinctions or sides as of an object.  Objects can be hot or cold, dark or light, smooth of rough – all these and many other properties, acting on our sense organs, arouse certain sensations.

Man’s organism possesses a corresponding physiological apparatus for the formation of sensations.  This apparatus consists, firstly, of sense organs, secondly, of nerve fibres through which, just like electricity along wires, excitation if transmitted to the respective parts of cerebrum and thirdly, of the sections of the brain where the excitations are transformed into corresponding sensations.

Excitation caused by a definite sound in man’s ear is transformed into the sensation of sound, while the action of light on the eye is transformed into the sensation of light, and so on.

What makes sensations tremendously important in the process of cognition is that they provide material enabling us to judge an object.  The entire subsequent process of knowledge rests on the information about objects which sensation gives us.

Sensation is a Subjective Image of the World

Sensation is a subjective image of the objective world.  This means that sensation, being a reflection of objectively existing objects, is not their mechanical imprint on man’s brain, but an ideal image. This image is subjective because it belongs to man (subject) and to humanity, and not to the outside world.  This means that the nature of sensation is influenced in a certain way by the specific features of the psyche, the individual qualities of the given person, and above all by social conditions, by his social environment.

One of the main indications of the subjective nature of sensations is the fact that people differently perceive identical outside influences.  Does this mean that sense organs give us an incorrect idea of the world?  No, it does not.  Daily experience and scientific data prove that sense organs do not deceive us.  If the indications of one sense organ arouse doubts, we turn to the others.  If a man does not believe his own eyes, he resorts to the use of his fingers, and if this is not enough, he has at his service the eyes and fingers of other people.  If, lastly, even this is not enough, man turns to instruments, experiments, practical experience. Thus, sense organs, checked by each other, by the sensations of other people, give us, on the whole, a correct idea of things accessible to us.

In addition to sensations, sensory, direct entirety, the total of its external aspects and distinctive features.  An idea is the reproduction in man’s mind of earlier perceptions.  We, for example, can reproduce in our mind, can bring to mind the image of our teacher, although we may not have seen him for many years.

Logical Knowledge

The picture given by sense organs is uncommonly rich and colourful.  It is however, limited and far from complete.  Sensory knowledge gives us an idea of only external aspects of things.  With the aid of sense organs, for example it is possible to perceive an electric bulb but it is impossible to imagine that electricity is a stream of electrons moving at a certain velocity.  Nor is it possible to perceive, through sense organs, the tremendous velocity of light, the movement of elementary particles in the atom and many other complex phenomena of nature and social life.

In a word, sensory knowledge cannot reveal the inner nature of things, their essence and the laws of their development.  Yet this is the main purpose of knowledge.  Only knowledge of laws, of the essence of things can serve man as a guide in his practical activity.  It is here that abstract or, as it is also called; logical thought comes to his aid.

Logical Thought

Logical thought is a qualitatively new, higher stage in the development of knowledge.  Its role is to reveal an object’s chief properties and features.  It is at the stage of logical thought that man gains knowledge of the laws governing the development of reality, so needed for his practical activity.

Concept-Main form of Logical Thought

Concept is the main form of logical thought.  A concept reflects in objects not all their aspects, but only what is essential and general; it abstracts, casts aside secondary features.  Let us consider, for example, the concept “man”.  Not all the features of an individual are reflected in this concept.  It contains no information about his nationality, age, place of residence, the time when he lives, and so on.  Fixed in this concept is only what is general and essential, inherent in every man – the ability to work, to produce material wealth, to think and to speak.  Similarly, the concept “tree”, “animal”, “society”, “production”, “class”, “party”, etc., cover what is general and essential in objects.