3
The Concept of Knowledge
A traditional philosophical definition of knowledge is belief which is true
and justified (Bonjour, 1969). A similar definition comes from the Encyclopaedia
Americana, which states that “knowledge is justified true belief” (Cornman, 2003).
These definitions seem to miss the point that much of human knowledge
falls into the category of tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1964). Many people know
how to ride a bicycle or drive a manual-shift car, but they probably could not put
this knowledge into words. The definition also leaves out information passed on
as visual images or sounds (including music).
Another position argued by some philosophers is that the problem of
defining knowledge remains unsolved (Cornman, 2003).
The “Body of Human Knowledge”
Historically, several scholars have been preoccupied with summarizing all
knowledge. One of Leibniz’s lifetime goals was to collate all of human
knowledge (O’Connor and Robertson, 1998). Comte thought that sociology
would synthesize all of human knowledge (Encyclopedia of Marxism, 2002).
It is not clear, however, what is meant by the “body of human
knowledge.” Is it everything that everyone knows? Obviously a body of
knowledge defined this way cannot ever be assembled. There may be an
individual in some remote area who is the last person on earth to know how to
practice a certain craft — making a particular kind of pot, for instance. Is this
Convention