This document discusses epistemological bases of knowledge. It defines epistemology as the study of knowledge and discusses the main areas of focus in epistemology, including the nature of knowledge, scope of knowledge, means of producing knowledge, and skepticism about knowledge claims. It also defines knowledge, discusses the sources of knowledge such as empiricism and rationalism, and lists the types of knowledge as personal, procedural, and propositional. Finally, it differentiates key concepts like knowledge and information, knowledge and skill, teaching and training, and reason and belief.

1. EPISTEMOLOGICAL BASES OF KNOWLEDGE
Dr. K. Kumaresan
Asst. Professor of Mathematics,
Thiagarajar College of
Preceptors

2. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

3. OBJECTIVES
The student,
• introduces the epistemological
bases of education
• gives the meaning of epistemology
and knowledge
• defines knowledge
• states the sources of knowledge
• lists and explains the types of
knowledge
• differentiates knowledge with
information & skill, teaching and
training, reason and belief

4. EPISTEMOLOGY
 Epistemology is the philosophical theory of
knowledge.
 The word 'Epistemology' is derived from two
Greek words, 'episteme' and 'logos'.
Episteme means 'knowledge' and logos
means 'study'.
 Hence epistemology is the study of
knowledge.
 The theory of knowledge, especially with
regard to its methods, validity, and scope and
the distinction between justified belief and

5. EPISTEMOLOGY .....
 Epistemology is mainly concerned with the
following four areas.
 1. Analysis of the nature of knowledge and
how it relates to similar notions such as truth,
belief and justification.
 2. The scope of knowledge and justified belief.
 3. The means of production of knowledge and
justification.
 4. Skepticism about
different knowledge claims.

7. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
What is knowledge?
What are the types of
knowledge?
How do we acquire
knowledge?
What do we know?
How do we know what
we know?

8. THE INTRODUCTION
8
WAYS OF KNOWING
 In Theory of Knowledge we recognize four
ways of acquiring knowledge about the
world:
1. Perception
2. Language
3. Reason and
4. Emotion

9.  WAYS OF KNOWING…
 If someone asks you how you know, you
might reply:
 1. ‘Someone told me’ – language
 2. ‘I saw it’ – perception
 3. ‘I worked it out’ – reason
 4. ‘It’s intuitively obvious’ – emotion

10. THE INTRODUCTION…..
10
AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE
 We will consider various Areas of
Knowledge such as:
mathematics, natural sciences,
social sciences, history, arts, ethics
and religion

11. MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE
• Knowledge is a familiarity , awareness or
understanding of some one or something ,
such as facts, information, descriptions of
skills, which is acquired through experience or
education, by perceiving, discovering and
learning.

12. MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE.....
 Knowledge is to know something.
 It is the information acquired by someone.
 Involves facts, information, and skills
acquired through experience or education;
 The theoretical or practical understanding of
a subject.
 Awareness or familiarity gained by
experience of a fact or situation.

13. DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE
 The philosopher Plato
famously defined
knowledge as
"justified true belief"
 Knowledge is the
understanding of
physical, social,
biological, mental and
spiritual aspects of the
world.

14. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?
 Knowledge is a “Justified True Belief” (JTB)
Plato
S knows that P if and only if:
(1) S believes that P
(2) P is true
(3) S is justified in believing that P
S = Subject
P = Proposition

15. BELIEF
Belief is the psychological state in
which an individual holds a
proposition or premise to be true.

16. TRUTH
 "To say of something which is that it is not, or to say
of something which is not that it is, is false.
However, to say of something which is that it is, or
of something which is not that it is not, is true."
Aristotle

17. JUSTIFICATION
To know that a given
proposition is true
 believe the relevant true
proposition
 have a good reason for
doing so.

18. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
 Each of us possesses a great deal of
knowledge.
 We know about ourselves; we know about the
world around us; we know about abstract
concepts and ideas.
 We learn a lot of things from books, from the
media, and from other people.
 However, to process information from these
sources, we must already know many things:
how to read, how to reason, who to trust.

19. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE.....
 There are two ultimate sources of our knowledge:
Empiricism and Rationalism.
 Empiricism
 Empiricism insists all of our knowledge is ultimately
derived from our senses or our experiences.
 It denies the existence of innate knowledge, i.e.
knowledge that we possess from birth. Empiricism
believes in experimentation and observation.
 However, it struggles to account for certain types of
knowledge, e.g. knowledge of pure mathematics or
ethics.

20. SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE.....
 Rationalism
 Rationalism emphasis some of our
knowledge is derived from reason alone and
that reason plays an important role in the
acquisition of all of our knowledge.
 It claims that reason plays a role in
observation and so that the mind is more
fundamental than the senses in the process
of knowledge-acquisition.

21. OTHER SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE ARE:
Experimentation
 The experimentation can be defined as a process
of observation under controlled conditions.
 ” We know the bridge is safe because six of us just
crossed it” this instance suggests that knowledge is
the product of tested experiences in which sense
perception is an ingredient but in which the effect of
what happens is the basic measure.
 We depend on experimental knowledge for
particular facts of everyday world.

22.  Authority
 Source of knowledge is authority of different
kinds - the God, the Sate, Tradition of the
expert.
 Authoritative knowledge it accepted as true
because, it comes from experts.
 Authoritative knowledge may be inadequate.
 Most of our factual knowledge is based on
authority.

23.  Intuition
 Intuition is perhaps the most personal way of
knowing.
 According to psychologists , knowledge is
connected intimately with feeling and emotion.
 As persons we see “in a sudden flash of insight”
that something is the case.
 We apprehend knowledge directly into the heart of
reality.
 Yet, we do not know how we acquired this
knowledge.
 Only an intense feeling seems to convince us we
have discovered what we were looking for.

24.  Revealed Faith Knowledge
 Faith of knowledge in God.
 Hindu’s faith knowledge contained in the
Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads.
 For Christian’s and Jew’s it is contained in
the Bible: for the Mohammedian’s, in the
Khoran.
 Divinely authenticated, it promises that those
who accept it never can be mistaken.
 It is considered as Devine truth.
 Revealed knowledge is to accept to be the
world of God.

25. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
 Philosophers typically divide knowledge into
three categories: personal, procedural, and
propositional.
 Relations between the three types of
knowledge can be helpful in clearly
understanding the theories of knowledge.

26. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
Comes from the local experience of the
individual.
Is shaped by culture, interest, experience.
Consists of:
 Skills & knowledge
 Formal education
 ‘School of life’
i.e. skills, practical abilities, individual talents
 Personal memory, perception, emotion etc.

27. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE…..
 It is the knowledge by acquaintance.
 Knowledge to do something.
 This is the kind of knowledge that we are
claiming to have something like “I know how
to play guitar music.”
 For example, in order to know someone, we
must have met them; in order to know fear,
we must have experienced it.

29. PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE
 It is the knowledge of how to do something.
 People who claim to know how to play a
game, or how to drive, are not simply
claiming that they understand the theory
involved in those activities.
 Rather, they are claiming that actually
possess the skills involved, that they are able
to do these things

30. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
A Procedure
is a series of
actions
conducted in a
certain order
or manner
Procedural Knowledge - How

31. PROPOSITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
 It is the knowledge of facts.
 Although there are several different types of
knowledge, the primary concern of
epistemology is propositional knowledge.
 When we say things like “I know that the internal
angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees”, we
are claiming to have propositional knowledge.
 It is important is that propositional knowledge is
not enough to give you either personal
knowledge or procedural knowledge.

32. A proposition is
a sentence
expressing
something true
or false
Propositional Knowledge - What

33. SKILL
 The ability to do something well.
 A kind of proficiency acquired through
training or experience.
 A learned power of doing something
competently
 A developed aptitude or ability

34. SKILL- DEFINITION
 An ability and capacity acquired through
deliberate, systematic and sustained effort to
smoothly and adaptively carryout complex
activities or job functions involving
ideas(cognitive skills), things(technical skills)
and people(interpersonal skills).

35. TYPES OF SKILLS
 Labour skills
 Life skills
 Social skills
 Soft skills
 Hard skills

36. TEACHING
 Meanining
 The action of a person who teaches; the
profession of a teacher
 Ideas or principles taught by an authority.
 Teaching is imparting knowledge or skill

37.  There are two type of teaching
1.Formal-Which is systemic deliberate direct
and consciously impart by specially
2.Informal-Teaching outside of class room

38.  Training
 The action of teaching a person or animal a
particular skill or type of behaviour
 Meaning, Definition and Types of Training
 Training constitutes a basic concept in human
resource development.
 It is concerned with developing a particular skill to a
desired standard by instruction and practice.
 Training is a highly useful tool that can bring an
employee into a position where they can do their
job correctly, effectively, and conscientiously.
 Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and
skill of an employee for doing a particular job.

39.  Need for Training:
 Every organization should provide training to
all the employees irrespective of their
qualifications and skills.
 The organization should train the employees
to enrich them with the latest technology and
knowledge.
 Training as one of the basic conditions to
deal with human problems.
 Only training can improve the quality and
reduce the wastages to the minimum.

40.  Types of Training:
 Various types of training can be given to the
employees such as induction training,
refresher training, on the job training,
vestibule training, and training for
promotions.

41. REASON
 Meaning
 The power of the mind to think and
understand in a logical way
 Reason is factual and logical explanation of a
phenomenon.
 It does not change even if there is a change
in perspective.

42.  Reason- Definition
 A statement or fact that explains why
something is the way it is, why someone
does, thinks, or says something, or why
someone behaves a certain way.
 A fact, condition, or situation that makes it
proper or appropriate to do something, feel
something, etc.
 For example, Earth rotates on its axis and
the sun shining causes day and night
alternately, is a reason.


43.  Belief
 Meaning
 Belief is personal.
 It varies from person to person.
 There is no burden of proof and in a free
society everyone is entitled to their own
beliefs regarding a phenomenon.
 An acceptance that something exists or is
true, especially one without proof.
 Trust, faith, or confidence in someone or
something.
 The feeling of being certain that

44.  Belief - Definition
 Assumptions and convictions that are held to
be true, by an individual or group, regarding
 Another way of defining belief sees it as
a mental representation of an attitude
positively oriented towards the likelihood of
something being true.
 For example, Who tilted the axis? Why it was
tilted? Why Earth rotates? Who gives the
power to rotation? - God, is belief

45. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE
Sl.No Knowledge Information
1 Refers to the awareness or
understanding of a subject
acquired from education or
experience
Organized data of something obtained from
various such as news papers, internet,
discussions etc.,
2 Knowledge is understanding Information is knowing
3 Relevant and objective
information that helps to draw
conclusions
Refined form of data that helps to
understand the meaning
4 Acquired through the
combination of information with
experience and intuition
Obtained through the compilation of data
with meaningful context
5 Leads to understanding of a
subject
Leads to comprehension of facts and figures
6 Transaction is not easy Transaction is easy through verbal or non-

46. Sl.No Knowledge Information
7 Has the ability to predict or make
decisions
Doesn't have the ability to predict or make
decisions
8 Collection of information Collection of data
9 All knowledge is information Each information is not necessarily a
knowledge
10 Reproduction is not possible Reproduction is possible
11 Needs some cognitive and analytical
ability
Do not need cognitive and analytical
ability
12 Can’t exist without information Can exist without information
13 Knowledge is reliable Information may or may not be reliable

47. DISTINCTION BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL
Sl.No Knowledge Skill
1 Refers to the awareness or
understanding of a subject acquired
from education or experience
Refers to the abilities to do something
well
2 The sum of what is known A particular ability
3 Comes through education or
experience
Comes through practice
4 Includes theoretical aspects Includes practical aspects
5 Includes theoretical aspects of a
particular subject
Includes the practical abilities gained
with the help of knowledge
6 It is not inherent Some skills can be inherent

48. DISTINCTION BETWEEN REASON AND BELIEF
Sl.No Reason Belief
1 Reason is factual Belief is personal
2 Logical information gained through
education or experience
An acceptance or opinion about something
3 Comes from understanding,
research and logic
A thought process which is ingrained in our
mind
4 Involves collection of data Doesn't involve collection of data
5 Not concerned with faith Concerned with faith
6 Doesn't change even if there is a
change in perspective
Varies from person to person

49. Sl.No Reason Belief
7 Gained from self-experience and
natural state of things
Gained from the instruction by others
8 Involves logical thinking Doesn't involve logical thinking
9 Has proof and explanation. No proof
10 Based in intellectual ability Based on faith about something
11 Rational for
believing/doing/wanting
something
may not be rational/logical/reasonable
12 Can be justified May not be justified
13 Answers are available Answers are not available

50. DISTINCTION BETWEEN TEACHING AND TRAINING
Sl.No Teaching Training
1 Related to theoretical knowledge Related to practical application of
knowledge
2 Includes transmitting new
knowledge
Includes developing skills with the help of
already known concepts using tools and
techniques
3 Involve activities like educating or
instructing
Involves the acquisition of knowledge,
sharpening of skills, concepts and rules.
4 Transfer of knowledge between a
teacher and a student
A technique frequently used in
organizations to build a person’s skills,
knowledge and attitudes
5 One of the objectives is to enrich
the minds of listeners
Main objective is to develop the skill
performance of an individual
6 Within the scope of academic
institution
Associated not only with academic but
commercial world
7 Teachers give feedback to students Trainers receive feedback from trainees
8 Focus on the teacher Focus on the learner

51. REVIEW
Meaning of
knowledge
Definition of
knowledge
Types of
knowledge

52. Skill
Teaching
Training
Belief