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Sunday, September 3, 2017

KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

In this write-up, I'd like to draw some points of difference between knowledge and wisdom.  What is meant by being knowledgeable?  What is meant by being wise?  Is a knowledgeable person wise?  Or, is a wise man knowledgeable?


To begin, let me give some examples of cases where a person claims he knows or has knowledge, as follows: (1) a scientist finds out that “there is water in Mars;” (2) a geologist finds out that “the core of the earth is extremely hot;” (3) a farmer knows the best of soil for planting rice; (4) a fisherman knows the best time of the day to catch fish; (5) a nursing mother knows the best time to give milk to her infant.  The first two examples are considered scientific knowledge.  These are forms of knowledge which help mankind understand the physical world and how to deal with it.  The last three examples, on the other hand, are considered “technical knowledge” necessary for one’s survival.  Take note: any form of knowledge is expressed in a form of a proposition, such as “There is water in Mars,” or “The core of the earth is extremely hot.”  Each of these propositions contains a truth-value –that is, whether a proposition is true or false.  Again, the proposition, “There is water in Mars,” can be true or false.”  Since a proposition can be true or false, it can also be contested or refuted.  But, we come to a very important question when we claim we know: “What are the criteria of knowledge?”  In other words, how do we know that what we claim is true?  To answer this question, let’s have Plato’s definition of knowledge.


Knowledge is defined by Plato --ancient Greek philosopher, as a “justified true belief.”  It’s a belief because it signifies a firm conviction or personal assent to a truth-claim.  For example, if one claims that there are other forms of life that exist on Mars and his claim is justified and really true, then he must have a firm conviction of it.  Otherwise, he might easily give up when other persons challenge or refute his claim.  Thus, belief implies a conversion of mind and heart to give assent to a propositional claim, which is really true and founded on sufficient rational grounds/justification.  Though it logically follows that if one is justified in his claim, then he sticks to it with firm conviction --even shed his blood for it, but of course, this is not always the case or true to all knowers.  There are some knowers who just simply give up what they know in that they are afraid to hold onto it, or fear for their lives if they hold it on.  Cowardice is what makes knowers shun to share what they know.  Courage is what makes them spread what they know.


Now, what about wisdom?  To understand more about wisdom, let me cite the idea of wisdom espoused by Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher, known today as "Socratic wisdom."  Socrates is known as the wisest person ever lived.  His wisdom lies in his claim that "he knows of only one thing with certainty --that is, he doesn't know."  He does not pretend he knows everything that there is to know.  However, he humbly accepts that he can't know everything.  Socratic wisdom, then, is characterized with humility.  It doesn't mean that one has to give up his desire to know or one has to give up knowledge and end up in skepticism.  Yet, to be wise like Socrates is to engage in dialogue with other seekers for truth.

So, what is the answer to the question, "What is the difference between the knowledgeable and wise person?"  A knowledgeable person is one who makes truth-claims about the world but he is not necessarily wise because he has the tendency to never admit mistakes.  A wise person is a knowledgeable one yet he has the attitude of humility to accept that he can commit mistakes and to admit the fact that he can't know everything.

Related articles: 
1)  What is Real Knowledge? [click] 
2)  Research-based Knowledge is Falsifiable [click]
3)  Scientific Knowledge is Falsifiable [click]

6 comments:

  1. Knowledge as defined by Plato the Greek philosopher, as a "justified true belief." It signifies a firm conviction or personal assent to a truth-claim. It implies a conversion of mind and heart to give assent to a propositional claim, which is really true and founded on sufficient rational grounds/justification. On the other hand the idea of wisdom by Socrates, a Greek philosopher lies in his claim that "he knows of only one thing with certainty --that is, he doesn't know." He does not pretend he knows everything that there is to know and humbly accepts that he can't know everything. Thus, the difference between a wise and knowledgeable person is A knowledgeable person is one who makes truth-claims about the world but he is not necessarily wise because he has the tendency to never admit mistakes. A wise person is a knowledgeable one yet he has the attitude of humility to accept that he can commit mistakes and to admit the fact that he can't know everything.

    Looking at the Greek philosopher Plato that knowledge is a "justified true belief ", wherein there must be accumulation of facts and data that you have learned about or experienced to such a claim. But whether the person stands on the said conviction is up to him. While the Greek philosopher Socrates idea on wisdom is that he doesn't know everything, were a person with wisdom is open minded. He has the ability to discern and judge which aspect of that knowledge are true, right, lasting, and applicable to life. So it doesn't follow that a knowledgeable person has also wisdom. But a person with wisdom is knowledgeable. Therefore I would prefer to have wisdom , to have an open mind, wether to hang-on to something or let go of it because its not applicable to life. As it say "wisdom is more precious than gold", with wisdom is common sense.

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  2. Knowledge is what we gain through reading and observing,as possible and showing the world that they're clever than average,and it's come from within,while wisdom is a Gift,open to reason,full of mercy and good fruits,impartial and sicere also find knowledge within and aren't focussed on showing it off.,they're willing to make a few changes and put some effort.

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  3. Knowledge is defined by Plato --ancient Greek philosopher, as a “justified true belief.” It’s a belief because it signifies a firm conviction or personal assent to a truth-claim. For example, if one claims that there are other forms of life that exist on Mars and his claim is justified and really true, then he must have a firm conviction of it. Otherwise, he might easily give up when other persons challenge or refute his claim.


    Knowledge-it is acquired by a person through experience or education, and it also showing it and also by doing observing and reading and also it will help mankind to understand.

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  4. Hannabelle Saga
    BSHRM-III
    A wise person is a knowledgeable one yet he has the attitude of humility to accept that he can commit mistakes and to admit the fact that he can't know everything.

    For me, I prefer being wise than be a knowledgeable person because I can accept that sometimes we commit mistakes and we can learn from them. Than being knowledgeable, yes you may know everything but you don't have the humbleness within you, you can't accept if ever you'll be wrong.

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  5. Mahilum J.

    The main theme of the article is to distinguish the different between knowledgeable and a wise person. What is it to be wise and what is it to be knowledgeable?. In the second paragraph the author illustrate or cite some evidences that helps a person claims that he knows. This two evidences are scientific knowledge and technical knowledge. Scientific knowledge simply means based on science, while technical knowledge based on one's experiences. The third paragraph, the author speaks on what ground do we make our truth claims, is it according to Plato justified belief? What he means is that, is our knowledge of something or belief justified? Meaning , are there sufficient evidence in your truth claim. The fourth paragraph the author speak about wisdom and cite the example based on the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. A wise person like Socrates claims that he cant know everything. Accept and embrace the attitude of humility and in engaging dialogue with other seekers of truth. In the end a knowledgeable person claims that he knows a certain knowledge can be known, while a wise person is knowledgeable and yet embrace the attitude of humility and which claims that he can't know everything.
    People nowadays tend to have a brilliant and sharp mind. Some people claims that they can know everything, and this leads to the conclusions that they will never accept correction when they commit mistakes. A knowledgeable person must be wise in his claims and embrace the attitude of humility. If a knowledgeable person has this attitude of humility he will be called a wise person, because a wise person is knowledgeable because of his claims that he can't know everything and has the attitude of humility.

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  6. Gerald John M. Tamayo
    AB-Philosophy

    What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom or let us say the difference between a knowledgeable person and wise person? Let us go first to a knowledgeable person. According to Plato, an ancient greek philosopher, a knowledgeable person always has a firm conviction or personal assent to a truth-claim. another says that a person has the courage to spread what they know. But how about the wise person? According to this article, a wise person is knowledgeable and has a form of good attitude and humility on his inner self.

    So basically speaking, the knowledgeable person has the knowledge to know things better but still he/she has the tendency of never admitting a mistake because he/she always believes that he/she is always right .He/she has also the tendency of putting others believe because of the what we called "SELF-CENTEREDNESS". while the wise person has the knowledge and heart on his work. He also has the tendency to commit mistakes but the wise person always accepts and learns from every mistake he/she makes. What makes a person wise is the everyday learning and acceptance on his/her self because he knows he/she is not perfect.In short knowledge is not enough without a virtue of acceptance.

    Comment:

    This page helps me alot, especially in identifying two similar words but has a big different meaning. It helps me to think deeply and give an accurate understanding between wise and knowledgeable people. It looks similar at first glance but when I've read the article I slowly understand the big difference between these two.Personally I would like to say thank you for this article because I was enlightened on these two deep words. It gives me another idea on how to analyze things beyond my myopic point of view.

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