We explain what philosophical knowledge is, its history and what its characteristics are. Also, the types that exist and some examples.
What is philosophical knowledge?
Philosophical knowledge is that know what is obtained thanks to the practical exercise of philosophy. Depending on what is understood by philosophy, this will be the nature of the knowledge obtained. This means that there are many ways of thinking about philosophical knowledge.
For Aristotle, for example, Philosophy seeks the “ultimate causes” of thingsthat is, its foundation, its reason for being. Knowing the foundation of something implies understanding what that something is in its most original and fundamental sense.
This idea of philosophical knowledge, defended by Aristotle and many other philosophers, has changed over time. Some thinkers believe that philosophy is a general way of thinking about life. and, therefore, philosophical knowledge is a reflection on how to live better. Those who support this idea tend to be inclined to ask ethical and moral questions and concerns.
Another way of thinking about philosophy, for example, is to consider it a rigorous science, through which precise and absolute data about things is accessed. Thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Descartes and Kant held this idea.
However, and regardless of the position adopted, they all agree that philosophical knowledge revolves around a deep, meditative understanding of the essence of the world and what is in it. What philosophy and philosophical knowledge are are closely related questions.
See also: Deductive method
Concept and history of philosophical knowledge
Indiscernible, philosophical knowledge is as old as philosophy. Asking about one is asking about the other. From the Greek beginnings of philosophy to the world today, many philosophers have attempted to answer the questions: What makes philosophical knowledge philosophical? Why not just call it “knowledge”? What is the difference between scientific knowledge?
To answer these questions we can think about knowledge in general. This always represents a relationship between a subject and an object: There is always a guy who wants to know something. When we know something, and we know it philosophically, we have a philosophical knowledge of that which we have known. What philosophy wants to know is whether the philosophical is in the knowing subject, in the known object, or in the relationship between the two. The majority supports this last possibility.
Objective philosophical knowledge
Plato is one of the philosophers who thought of philosophical knowledge as determined by the object. According to him, what the philosopher does is not decide how things are, but discover the properties that things show. Thus, the Platonic theory of ideas maintains that, as an object of knowledge, ideas are independent of the subject. Ideas, as Plato understood them, inhabit a different, “ideal” world (since ideas live there, which are the objects that do not need the subject to exist on their own).
Platonic ideas were thought of throughout much of the history of philosophy. Whether they agreed more or less, all philosophers agreed that being able to know ideas was to know the essence of things. In fact, according to Edmund Husserl, who was a contemporary philosopher and founder of phenomenology, true intuition was the intuition of essences: that way of intuiting the truth of things, their general essence.
Philosophical knowledge thus became, as Aristotle thought, a knowledge of essences, of the foundation of things: philosophy helps us discover what things are.
Subjective theological philosophical knowledge
However, not all philosophers think alike. Philosophy can be understood in many ways. Knowledge too. Saint Augustine, for example, when reading Plato, believed that Platonic ideas did not inhabit a supersensible world.independent, but were part of the spirit of God. This is equivalent to saying that the essence of things is nothing more than the logical content of reason, since for Christianity God and reason or “logos” are the same.
Saint Augustine's theory changes the perspective of knowledge. The axis is no longer placed on the object, but on a subject who turns out to be God, an absolute being. Knowledge, then, is given through the divine revelation of God to men. It is philosophical knowledge, yes, but mainly theological.
Subjective philosophical knowledge
As the history of philosophy continued, knowledge continued its path of change and transformation. For Kant and his disciples, knowledge is determined by the subjectbut this is no longer a divine subject, it is no longer God. Starting with modernity, the subject is a “general consciousness.” It no longer matters who knows, but rather the fact that someone does it: knowledge is given by a subject who approaches the object. There is a subject that, ultimately, “produces” the object.
General features between the three types of philosophical knowledge
Despite the differences between different conceptions of philosophical knowledge, there is something that all these ways of thinking share. Whether we adopt an objective, a theological or a subjective position, whether we put the axis on the object or on the subject, there are some general features that cannot be denied.
- First of allphilosophical knowledge is built from the relationship between a subject and an object.
- In second placethis relationship can take many forms, but from all of them a form of knowledge is obtained.
- Thirdthis knowledge always speaks of what the object is, no matter if it does so thanks to the subject or the object itself as it is given.
- Fourthlythe knowledge that speaks of what the object is is a knowledge of essences.
- In fifth and last placeknowing the essence of something, as philosophical knowledge, is knowing how and what it is that we seek to know.
Characteristics of philosophical knowledge
Rational character
Some philosophers maintain that philosophical knowledge is rational. This means that it is the result of the efforts of a mind that works through reason. Rational is that which reflects and thinks within known, understandable, explainable formal parameters. That is to say, Rational philosophical knowledge comes from reflecting and thinking logically. In that sense, it relies on categories, axioms, concepts and procedures that can be detailed and explained.
However, Not all philosophers believe that knowledge is rational.. In fact, many believe that reason cannot know everything that exists. One of them was Kant, who maintained that we could only know things in part. Derrida, for his part, argues that knowledge through reason is not necessarily the most complete. Even, and following Nietzsche, it may not necessarily be true knowledge: reason does not equal truth.
Logical-critical character
Philosophical knowledge can be critical in the logical sense. This means that judge the validity of your own argumentssubjects them to trial and verification. In this way, philosophical knowledge verifies whether an argument includes contradictions, inconsistencies, fallacies or problems inherent to the premises chosen, the reasoning applied or the conclusion obtained.
This is an indispensable feature for philosophical knowledge, since it is what sustains its validity and, therefore, its universality. their ability to give verifiable, accurate and true answersas long as knowledge is considered and thought about from a scientific and rational point of view.
Analytical character
Philosophical knowledge is analytical: proceeds in an organized, structured and focused manneralthough you can delve into any topic and specific topic. It does not do this in an arbitrary or disorderly way, but rather it traces a path from idea to idea that can in turn be understood, explained and questioned, that is, it proposes an objective methodology for its analysis.
Historical character
The historical character of philosophical knowledge is that it changes over time. Although there is often a claim to universality, all knowledge It depends largely on the cultural, social and existential precepts of the time in which it is formulated.even the paradigm in which it lives.
On the other hand, philosophical knowledge dialogues, in time, with itself. This not only means that knowledge is itself the object of knowledge, but that as authors are rescued, continued or confronted by other authors, knowledge enters a dynamic of dialogue and transformation. This is also the character of becoming of knowledge: everything, inevitably, is subject to change.
Totalizing character
Many times, philosophical knowledge wants to be totalizing: aspires to exhaust the topics it deals withwhatever they may be, and to provide complete, total explanations that do not leave segments in the dark. We talk about “exhausting” in a sense of exhaustiveness: philosophy means everything that can be said about what it seeks to know. That is why, many times, we speak not only of philosophical knowledge but also of a system: philosophical system.
Systematic character
When philosophical knowledge is logical, rational and totalizing knowledge, it is also systematic. This means that it operates as a system, obeys the rules you have set and incorporatedand that adheres to their work methods or systems. Therefore, you can reproduce yourself or at least follow the line of reasoning if you set your mind to it.
Examples of philosophical knowledge
From the difficulty in determining what philosophical knowledge is arises the difficulty in showing what it is through examples. However, the academic community agrees in considering that the works that make up the philosophical canon are examples of the knowledge obtained. Thus, some examples of this form of knowledge are:
- Dialoguesby Plato. Plato's works are a very clear example of knowledge construction. In them, the characters discuss and confront their ideas regarding certain philosophical questions. Although not everyone reaches a precise conclusion, the exchange between the interlocutors builds a critical form of knowledge, which points to the essence of things, even when finding it is somewhat more difficult than expected.
- Corpus Aristotelicum, by Aristotle. Aristotle's treatises present a systematic and rigorous structure of searching for knowledge. In them the philosophical concerns of the Athenian thinker are reflected, such as the question of being, final causes, ethics or politics.
- Confessionsfrom Saint Augustine. The book Confessions, by Augustine of Hippo, commonly known as “The Confessions”, is a form of philosophical knowledge. In a confessional, intimate way, Augustine shows the interiority of his spirit by adopting a critical and revealing attitude regarding not only his nature, but also what he can discover about what God is.
- Metaphysical meditationsby Descartes. Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations are another form of confessional search for a philosophical truth. Descartes seeks to find certain knowledge on which to build his knowledge of the world and, in the process, he thinks about the nature of God, error, creation and the sensible world, that is, the nature of exteriority. This book revolutionized the Western world and is considered the beginning of philosophical modernity.
- Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. This work by Immanuel Kant marked a before and after in the construction of knowledge. At times unfathomable, it is a demonstrative and logical approach about the way we know, how the relationship between subject and object occurs, and what we can come to know about the things that are in the world and appear to us as such.
References
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- Sanguineti, J.J. (2005). Human knowledge: a philosophical perspective (Vol. 10). Word.
- Zuluaga, E.G. (1993). Theory of knowledge. Journal of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, (92), 160-184.
- Kant, I. (1977). Critique of pure reason. Porrúa.
- Hume, D. (2003). A treatise of human nature. Courier Corporation.
- Descartes, R. (1946). Rules for the direction of the spirit (Vol. 95). Secretary of public education.
- Deleuze, G., Guattari, F., & Kauf, T. (2001). What is philosophy? Barcelona: Anagram.
- Stein, E. (2001). What is philosophy? (Vol. 6). Meeting.
- Heidegger, M. (2013). What is philosophy? Herder Editorial.
- Marías, J., Zubiri, X., & and Gasset, JO (1941). History of philosophy (No. B94. M37 1974.). Madrid: Western Magazine.
- “Characteristics of philosophical knowledge” in Pedagogical Folder.
- “Knowledge” in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
