Download Notes here - Raymond Williams Foundation

Wisdom and knowledge – we know more but are we wiser?
Based on http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2011/09/22/What-is-Knowledge.aspx
1. What’s the difference between data and information?
2. One definition of knowledge is ( this goes back to Plato)….a person knows this fact
if:
1. The person believes the statement to be true
2. The statement is in fact true
3. The person is justified in believing the statement to be true
3. Can we know anything? Descarte(1596 -1650) developed an argument
…..suppose there is an evil genius, that is “supremely powerful and clever” and was
bent upon deceiving us all and we are living in a world created by him. Can we rule
this out?
4. Descarte thought he had because he realised he was thinking, if he was thinking
then he must be a thinking thing and so he found that it was impossible to doubt that
he was a thinking being. This seemingly small but significant truth led to his most
famous contribution to Western thought: cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am).
5. The Gettier problem…
Fred sees a sheep in a field and states the ‘fact’ that ‘there is a sheep in the field’.
There is in fact a sheep in the field but it is hidden behind a barn. The ‘sheep’ Fred
saw was in fact a dog dressed up as a sheep by a prankster. Is Fred’s statement
knowledge?
6. More recently (20th Century) A definition of knowledge …..
1. Everyone comes to belief with a cognitive structure that cannot be set aside.
2. Our cognitive structure serves as a lens through which we view the world.
Because of this, knowledge is said to be perspectival or a product of our
perspective.
3. Since the evaluation of our beliefs is based on our cognitive lens, it's not
possible to be certain about any belief we have. This should make us
tentative about truth claims and more open to the idea that all of our beliefs
could be wrong.
4. Truth emerges in the context (or relative to) community agreement.
7. Wisdom - The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the
quality of being wise. - Oxford dictionary
8. Can you be wise in a narrow field?
9. Do you have to be older to be wise?
10. Does wisdom come with a high IQ?
11. Knowledge in the World is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Is wisdom
increasing?
12. Will AI be wiser than us?
Yinka Shonebare 2015