As humans, we all think of different things when we think of knowledge. In order for us to know what the roles of experience and gaining knowledge and what its limitations are, we have to first define and know what experience is. Experience is the knowledge or dominance of a certain event or subject increased through contribution in or exposure to it. Terms in rationality, for example, ‘observational learning’ or ‘a posteriori knowledge’ is utilized to refer to learning dependent on experience. People are shaped everyday by their beliefs, experiences, and environment. One of the most influential philosophers of our time, who had a great idea for understanding the role of experience and gaining knowledge, is John Locke.
John Locke (1632-1704) gave us the first hint of what knowledge is actually all about. Locke sees us as having sense organs that when invigorated, create ‘thoughts of sensation.’ These thoughts of sensation are worked on by our brains to deliver ‘thoughts of reflection.’ Thus, thoughts wake up, which can be transformed into new thoughts by means of reflection. These two courses that ideas take are derived from encounters or experiences. This means that as people, we can have no type of knowledge beyond our thoughts or ideas. John Locke once stated, “Knowledge is the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas” (John Locke; 1689, BOOK IV. Of Knowledge and Probability. An Essay: Concerning Human Understanding).
There are two types of material thoughts: basic and complex. Straightforward thoughts have one trait, for example, the sky is blue or lemons are sour. While complex thoughts are mixes of straightforward thoughts. There are building blocks to our thoughts and are ideas, and they come upon us via our senses, and we reflect on these ideas in order to form complex ideas. John Locke divided knowledge into three different types, the first one being Intuitive Knowledge. Intuitive knowledge involves direct and immediate recognition of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas. It yields perfect certainty, but is only rarely available to us (John Locke). For example, we know intuitively that a dog is not the same as an Elephant.
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The second type of knowledge is demonstrative knowledge. Demonstrative knowledge is when we perceive the agreement or disagreement indirectly through a series of intermediate ideas (John Locke). For example, I know that A is greater than B and B is greater than C, therefore I know that A is greater than C. The third type of knowledge is Sensitive Knowledge. Sensitive knowledge is when our sensory ideas are caused by existing things even when we do not know what causes the idea within us (John Locks).
For example, I know that there is something producing the odor I smell. Our senses are able to sense out the odor, even though what the actual cause is. Winter, McClelland, and Stewart (1981) estimated that a procedure of coordinating thoughts, courses, and disciplines would upgrade basic reasoning over a more typical curriculum. So they created an experiment in which the students took a gathering of at least two unique subjects. The courses concentrated on incorporating the diverse orders. After the experiment, they reasoned that incorporating at least two disciplines at the same time elicits more cognitive growth than just studying the same material in separate courses without structure.
I find this very interesting, because it ties in perfect with John Locke’s belief and idea of knowledge being two unique ideas and that the manner in which you develop learning, or for this situation basic reasoning, is to enable people to adapt to more, than to just one thought or idea. As indicated by Locke, information of the outer world is learning of ‘real existence.’ Knowledge of real existence is learning that something truly exists and is certifiably not a simple fabrication of your creative ability. Locke argues that we can know three various types of things truly exist. To start with, every individual can know their own presence at some random time. I can know since I exist right now.
You can know, as you read this that you exist while you read this. Locke’s case here is reminiscent of Descartes’ case that we know our very own reality in each demonstration of reasoning, not withstanding when we question our own reality. Second, Locke trusts that we can realize that God exists. Locke offers a proof of God’s presence in Book IV, section 10 of the Essay. Third, we can realize that different things unmistakable from our minds truly exist. When you said to your friend that there was a drinking fountain over there, the knowledge of real existence that you had expressed and communicated was of the third kind.
As you looked at the fountain, you realized that there was something distinct from your mind, really existing, and that’s the fountain. Saying this doesn’t imply that this was the main other thing you knew to exist. You also knew other things that are distinct from your mind, to exist at the time: the floor you were remaining on, the hallway you waited in, the doors in the hallway, etc. The information you shared with your friend, concerned the presence of the water fountain. You realized that the water fountain existed distinct from your mind.
Knowledge of the outside world is knowledge of the existence of a thing distinct from one’s own mind. Locke’s record of sensitive knowledge is personally related to, but distinct from his reply to skepticism. Locke does not believe that specific occurrences of sensitive knowledge, for example, when you realize that the paper (or screen) you’re reading from exists-depend on being able to defeat any skeptical doubts.
John Locke does not think that the skeptic can be fully defeated. Locke rejects numerous forms of skepticism as either grounded on assumptions that are unacceptable or as containing the seeds of their own incoherence. None of Locke’s arguments are most likely to convince a strong skeptic. In conclusion, John Locke is one of the most pivotal philosophers of our time, and his teachings don’t just leave us always thinking, but displays a great teaching lesson for us, to help us all grasp a better understanding on what the role of experience and gaining knowledge really is.
