Problem of the objectivity of objective knowledge: A philosophical critique
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Date
2019-03-29
Authors
Ven. Sugunasiri Thero, G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Peradeniya
Abstract
Knowledge is constructed by people on the basis of their own experience and understanding relative to a particular culture and a particular thinking pattern. Since there is no one distinctive definition for knowledge, people have been defining it according to their understanding. The existing conceptualizations of knowledge tend to posit knowledge as an objective phenomenon ignoring the subjectivity of the one who creates knowledge. This paper engages with the idea of objective knowledge with a focus on the existing controversy on the objectivity of knowledge. It investigates into the significance of subjective experience in constructing knowledge considering the impossibility of acquiring knowledge without subjective involvement. The idea that there is an objective knowledge available as well as accessible for people is seen as problematic in this study. The study engages with the following questions: What is called objective knowledge? What are the available sources or methods which can be used to access it? The general view is that knowledge exists out there to be discovered. Nevertheless, it has been shown that knowledge is not something to be discovered; it is constructed. In order for one to discover it, knowledge should already be there as an established phenomenon. If an objective knowledge of anything is available as such then there should be a non-objective knowledge. If it is the case that only objective knowledge is the real knowledge, then non-objective knowledge of any kind should arguably be false phenomenon. At the same time, the question arises as to whether there is not another type of knowledge about objective knowledge. In a context where a case is made for such knowledge, then it should be asked if objective knowledge could ever be separated from that other knowledge—i.e. the knowledge about the objective knowledge. To understand objective knowledge, there must be a knower, and then the understanding becomes the knowledge of the knower regarding that objective knowledge. Thus, it is clear that any kind of knowledge cannot be separated from the subject‘s experience. It is simply impossible to speak of objective knowledge independent of the knowledge of the knower regarding that objective knowledge.
Description
Keywords
Knowledge , Subjectivity , Objectivity
Citation
Proceedings of the PGIHS Research Congress ( PGIHS-RC) -2019, University of Peradeniya, p. 20