4 Nature of Knowledge

Nature of Knowledge

Let us take a look at the following statements and determine which

one states fact or opinion.

1. It takes me 30 minutes to walk from my home to school.

2. Living near the school is better because we do not have to spend
much for transportation.
3. My sister ate the last piece of pizza pie.
4. My sister is a selfish person because she ate the last piece of pizza
pie and did not share it with me.
5. The policeman firmly pushed the suspect to his knees and placed
him in handcuffs.
6. The aggressive manner by which the policeman arrested the
suspect is an example of the brutality that characterizes our police
force.

Statements 1, 3, and 5 are more factual than statements 2, 4, and

6. Using the philosophical tools we learned, they fit into the category
of facts since they contain ideas or information that are easily
verifiable. While statements 2, 4, and 6 could be considered as
opinions.

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Fact is something concrete that can be

proven. You can find facts in legal
records, scientific findings,
encyclopedias, atlases, etc. In other
words, facts are the truth and are
accepted as such.

Opinion is less concrete. It's a view

formed in the mind of a person about
a particular issue. In other words, it is
what someone believes or thinks, and
is not necessarily the truth. Also, note in
the examples below how facts are the
same for everybody, but opinions can
differ quite widely.

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Examples of an opinion:

• Ann can have the opinion that Italian food tastes best,
while Joe has the opinion that French food is ideal.
• Sue can have the opinion that reading is boring, while
Mike can have the opinion that reading is fun.
• Penny can have the opinion that cold weather is better, while
Tim can prefer hot weather.

Opinions are statement that go beyond providing facts.

A conclusion is a judgment based on certain facts.
Beliefs are statements that expresses convictions that are not easily
and clearly explained by facts.

Explanations are statements that assume the claim to be true and

provide reasons why the statement is true.

Arguments are series of statements that provide reasons to

convince the reader or listener that a claim or opinion is truthful.

Fallacies are arguments based on faulty reasoning.

Bias is disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or

thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair.

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The facts that form the bases of a conclusion may not be
disputed but the conclusion itself could still be contested or
questioned. To judge the truthfulness of belief, we must also consider
things such a person’s experiences and views.
Facts are statements that are observed to be real or truthful.
Claims are statements that require further examination to determine
their truthfulness. Some arguments may contain fallacies. We must be
aware of the various kinds of fallacies as these affects the validity of
arguments.
Opinions are often influenced by bias. We must be aware of
bias so that we can objectively and critically examine points of view.
Opinion is something intermediary between knowledge and
ignorance. While Public opinion is the intermediate faculty which
seizes the things that float between the two extremes (Plato). Opinion
applies to what, being true or false, may be other than it is: in fact,
opinion is the apprehension of an immediate and unnecessary
premise (Aristotle)

Opinion, founded in the probable, perhaps also the name of

knowledge (Leibniz)

Opinion is a belief that is conscious of being insufficient both

subjectively and objectively (Kant)

An opinion gives for truth something that has been said,

although sometimes they are absurd words, which mean nothing,
impossible to understand (Hobbes)

Public opinion is the convergence of the opinions of the

greatest number of people in a community, so that they form a
common and dominant feeling, exerting diffuse pressure (Freud)
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The following are the examples of fallacies.

Fallacy Characteristics
Ad hominem attacking the person presenting the argument
instead of the argument itself.
Appeal to
using the threat of force or an undesirable event to
force
advance an argument.

Appeal to
using emotions such as pity or sympathy.
emotion
Appeal to the
the idea is presented as acceptable because a
popular
lot of people accept it.

Appeal to the idea is acceptable because it has been true for

tradition a long time.
Begging the assuming the thing or idea to be proven is true; also
question known as circular argument.
Cause-and- assuming “cause-and-effect” relationship between
effect unrelated events.
Fallacy of assuming that what is true of a part is true for the
composition whole.
Fallacy of assuming that what is true for the whole is true for its
division parts.

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The following are the examples of biases.

Bias Characteristics
Corresponde tendency to judge a person’s personality by his or
nce bias or her actions, without regard for the external factors
attribution or influence
effect
Confirmation tendency to look for and readily accept
bias information which fits one’s own beliefs or views
and to reject ideas or views that go against it.
Framing focusing on a certain aspect of a problem while
ignoring other aspects.
Hindsight the tendency to see past events as predictable, or
to ascribe a pattern to historical events.
Conflict of a person or group is connected to or has a vested
interest interest in the issue being discussed.
Cultural bias analyzing an event or issue based on one’s cultural
standards.

Stages in the Apprehension of Concepts for Knowledge to Be

Possible

Perception
This is the first stage which involves an activity that does not make us
different from animals. Animals also perceive their surroundings,
including the things around them. There are two types of perception:

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external perception and internal perception. External perception
happens when we perceive things using our hive senses. The result of
the process of external perception is called percept. Consequently,
once you use any and all of your five senses to perceive the world,
you have these percepts. For example, when you perceive a chair,
you have the percept of a chair.

Percepts are the immediate product of external perception.

Internal perception, on the other hand, happens when you use your
imagination and memory. From these percepts, you could close your
eyes and use your imagination and memory to recreate the percept
into an image or phantasm which is the product of this process.

Abstraction
Abstraction is the second stage that distinguishes us from
animals. This process was described by Charles Coppens, S.J. as a
simple apprehension or conception: Simple apprehension 1s the act
of perceiving the object intellectually, without affirming or denying
anything concerning it. To apprehend is to take hold of the thing as
if with the hand; an apprehension, as an act of the mina, is an
intellectual grasping of an object." Thus, it involves the use of the
intellect where we grasp what is universal among the different
particulars that we have observed from perception. For example,
you would be able to abstract what is universal or essential tor
something to be called a chair.

Upon perceiving different kinds of chairs in the world, you

would be able to grasp through the process of simple apprehension,
the concept of a chair. You would now be able to apply this concept
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of a chair and identity other chairs that you would see in the future.
thus, the results of this process of abstraction or simple apprehension
or conception are concepts. From the percepts and images, you
were able to arrive at the concepts using your intellect.

Judgment
This is the third stage in order to complete the act of the mind.
This is where we are going to make a knowledge claim because we
are going to take at least two concepts and put them together in
order to make a statement or a proposition that could either be true
or false about the world. You are therefore affirming or denying
something about the concept, or you may be pronouncing an
agreement or disagreement between these two concepts. For
example, you take one concept 'blue' and another concept sky,
then you put them together to make the statement: "The sky is blue.
This constitutes making a knowledge claim that is either true or false
about the world, that is, you could check whether or not the claim is
true depending on the weather that day.

Types of Statements
1. Analytic statements
The truth or falsity of the knowledge claim being made by an
analytic statement could be found within the statement itself. In
other words, you do not have to go outside of the statement to
search whether the claim is true or false. When somebody claims
that: ‘A bachelor is unmarried male of marriageable age.' one
does not have to go outside of the statement to check its truth or
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falsity. One would know right away that the statement is true upon
examination of the key terms contained within the statement
because the statement given is a definition of a bachelor.
Supposing that you deny the statement and say that, 'A bachelor
is not an unmarried male’ this statement would lead to absurdity
and contradiction because you would be denying its definition.
Analytic statements are also known or identified as: truths of
language, truths of reason, is of identity, a priori, matters of logic, or
formal statements.

2. Empirical statements
Empirical statements are different from analytic statements
because their truth or falsity depends on the state of affairs being
claimed. Here, the knowledge claim being made is not dependent
on definitions or tautologous statements whose truths are contained
within itself, but the truth or falsity being claimed by an empirical
statement rest on its correspondence with facts or with the current
state of affairs being claimed. Thus, the earlier statement that the sky
is blue is an empirical statement whose truth depends on the
additional information or claim being made? Its truth or falsity would
now depend on whether or not the state of affairs being described
actually obtains at the moment. Empirical statements are also
known or identified in philosophical literature as truths of fact,
synthetic, matters of fact, or a posteriori statement.

3. Evaluative/Normative statements
An evaluative/normative statement is a statement containing
evaluative terms. Evaluative terms are meant to express approval or
disapproval, value or disvalue, like or dislike, importance or

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unimportance, and the like. Disciplines that deal with evaluative or
normative statements are usually found in the field of ethics,
aesthetics, and religion, among one However, the uses of
evaluative/normative statements go beyond these disciplines.
Applications of these statements are prevalent in our daily lives.
When someone gives nis or her evaluation and attaches worth on
something. He or she is making an evaluative statement. Some
examples of these evaluative statements are: “That girl is beautiful”
or “He is a good person”. These evaluative statements are
expressions of moral judgments of the individual.

Types of Knowledge
1. Formal knowledge
Corresponds to knowledge in the formal sciences whose main
concern is the validation of their knowledge claims within the formal
system in their respective disciplines. Analytic statements, as products
of formal knowledge, use the faculty of reason and analysis of the
terms contained within the statement itself. Thus, formal knowledge
is concerned with the coherence of the concepts and ideas within a
particular system that is being employed. This could be logical,
mathematical, linguistic, or any formal system whose method of
validation depends entirely on the particular system being used.

The formal sciences are characterized by the consistency of

the system being used. 1heretore, they are not dependent on the
accumulation of empirical data but they are concerned with the
structure or Validity of concepts in their particular science within the
formal deductive framework thar governs them. For example, a
mathematical calculation can be done precisely without having to

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rely on actual empirical data. In other words, you can perform the
mathematical operation of adding two and three apples as
equivalent to five without necessarily having the actual empirical
objects at hand, in this case, the apples.

This is also true with logical analysis. The idea of the validity of
an argument in a deductive formal system like logic, does not
depend on truth based on the empirical content or the actual
argument itself. According to Irving Copi, "The logician is not the
arbiter of facts, but oft the forms in which inferences are made. Ihe
logician is simply concerned with maintaining the correct logical
structure of the form of the argument to keep its validity using the
method of deduction because logic is considered as a formal
science. As long as the argument follows a correct logical form, then
the claim is accepted as valid. Thus, it is correct and is accepted in
the formal sciences as a coherent logical system.

2. Empirical knowledge
The general term used to describe the different disciplines in
the empirical sciences, ranging from the hard sciences of physics,
chemistry, biology, and others to the soft sciences of sociology.
political science, psychology, and others. In as much as empirical
statements use the faculty of experience and sense perception in
order to establish, their knowledge claims, empirical knowledge also
takes emphasis and makes use of the data or the content from
experience and its correspondence with the state of affairs to
establish the truth or falsity off their knowledge claims from these

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empirical sciences. The empirical sciences give information about
what the world is.

The apple analogy used as an example of validating formal

knowledge while the white swan analogy in the use of induction
method is an example of actual empirical data.

ACTIVITY No. 4
Directions: Write your answer in a one (1) whole yellow paper.
A. Give 5 examples of a factual statements and 5 examples of an
opinion.

Factual Statements Opinions

1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

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B. Determine whether the statement is analytic, empirical or

evaluative.

1. The puppy Is on the bed.

2. A puppy is a young dog
3. A sheep is a wool-bearing mammal.
4. Stealing is wrong.
5. Water is composed of 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of
oxygen.
6. In logic, any statement (P) will always imply itself such that: P
implies P.
7. Honesty is the best policy.
8. There are 485 potholes on the other side of the moon.
9. As a student, it is your obligation to study your lesson.
10. My sheep does not bear wool.

C. Essay
1. Give three (3) examples of abstract concepts expressed in a
statement. Explain the process of forming these abstract concepts.
were you able to go through all the steps in the formation of a
concept for knowledge to be possible?

Rubric Scoring for Abstract Concepts Expressed in a Statement

Excellent Three examples Clear and adequate explanation

of abstract for the stages for knowledge to be
concepts possible.
were given

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Very Good Two examples Clear and adequate explanation
were given for the stages for knowledge to be
possible.
Satisfactory One example Clear and adequate explanation
was for the stages for knowledge to be
possible.
given

2. List down two disciplines each that belongs to both formal and
empirical sciences. Compare and contrast their difference. Which
of the two sciences, from your point of view, is more useful or
relevant to you as a student? Justify your answer by writing on the
space provided next page.

Rubric Scoring for Listing

Two examples each Clear and adequate

for both formal and explanation why it is
Excellent
empirical sciences considered as formal and as
are given empirical sciences.
Only one example Clear and adequate
explanation why it is
Very Good for each is given
considered as formal and as
empirical sciences.
Satisfactory Only one example No clear or adequate
explanation.
for each is given

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Discipline Similarity Differences

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References
Ramos, C. C. (2019). Introduction to the Philosophy of the
Human Person Edition. Rex Book Store.
Vinzons, M. P. (2020). Introduction to the Philosophy of the
Human Person. Vibal Group Inc. .
DepEd Module

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