Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

III. Methods and tools
of it? What makes for a good
description
When is having multiple
explanation?
Objectivity: on what grounds can
•
be claimed or doubted? Are
objectivity
different challenges in objectively
there
what is happening, how it
describing
Perspective: is being able to see and
•
something from multiple
understand
always beneficial? Can a
perspectives
be “false”? When might
perspective
a consensus among different
reaching
be necessary?
perspectives
opened this chapter with the map metaphor
We
knowledge, which can help us think about the
of
of knowledge. Another metaphor of
properties
is a tree. We consider the implications
knowledge
this metaphor, for example about how
of
is understood and acted on, below.
knowledge
European societies, knowledge is often pictured
In
a tree: a single trunk—the core—with branches
as
outwards towards distant peripheries.
splaying
imagery of this tree is so deeply embedded
The
European thought-patterns that every form of
in
has been marshalled into a ‘centre-
institution
pattern. In philosophy, for example,
periphery’
are certain ‘core’ subjects and other more
there
peripheral … Likewise, a persistent,
marginal,
demonstrably false, picture of science has it
and
consisting of a ‘stem’ of pure science (namely
as
physics) with secondary domains
fundamental
special sciences at varying degrees of remove:
of
growing from, and dependent upon, the
branches
Ganeri offers an iteration to this
Jonardon
using a different kind of tree: instead
metaphor,
one with a single trunk, we might picture a
of
tree with multiple stems. No part is more
banyan
knowledge is shared, produced
how
evaluated? Is it easier to see how
and
cultures of others influence their
the
as opposed to how your
knowledge,
Values: can knowledge be neutral? Should
•
be neutral? What role do your values play
it
your pursuit of knowledge? How do
in
influence the production and sharing
values
Responsibility: what responsibilities
•
you have when making claims or
do
the claims you encounter?
evaluating
you agree that you have a
Would
less important or fundamental, which reflects
or
idea of a plurality of knowledges without a
the
system. The banyan tree metaphor was
central
by Vedic philosophers millennia ago, as
used
who knows this tree knows the Vedas. Below,
one
its well nourished branches straggle out;
above,
objects are the twigs. Below its roots proliferate
sense
linked with works in the world of men.
inseparably
1
explanations desirable, and when is it not?
culture influences yours?
happens and why it happens?
of knowledge?
• Culture: what is the role of culture in
responsibility to be knowledgeable?
III.2 Varying our metaphors of knowledge
Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gītā
an undying banyan tree, with roots above
Stands
boughs beneath. Its leaves are the Vedic hymns:
and
(Bhagavad Gita)
foundational trunk.
(Ganeri 2017)
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