The 4 elements of knowledge

Knowledge is a very broad concept, since it refers to everything that can be acquired regarding what reality is like and, in essence, everything is susceptible to being learned.

Although there are many things to learn and think about, every process in which new information is acquired has four parts, which are the elements of knowledge. Next we will see what they are and we will give examples of each one.

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The main elements of knowledge

Before going deeper into its elements, it is necessary to comment a little on the idea of ​​the knowledge, although its definition is somewhat complicated and depends on the philosophical perspective of each one. In fact, the philosophical branch that treats knowledge as an object of study and tries to define it is the Theory of Knowledge.

Broadly speaking, knowledge is a spontaneous and instinctive phenomenon, a mental, cultural and emotional process through which reality is reflected and reproduced in thought. This process starts from experiences, reasoning and learning, which can be captured with a greater or lesser degree of subjectivity by the subject who tries to assimilate them.

Regardless of the type of knowledge to be acquired, in any knowledge acquisition process, The following elements can be highlighted: the subject, the object, the cognitive operation and the thought or representation mental.

1. Subject

In all acquisition of knowledge there is a subject, that is, the person who captures information that constitutes reality, represented in the form of an object and, from it, carries out a cognitive operation to have an impression or thought about that object. In short, the subject is the one who knows a new knowledge.

In a scientific research context, the subjects who acquire new knowledge of the world are the scientists themselves. These researchers, through experiments and research, obtain results, which would essentially be the object of study. It is based on these results that they carry out some conclusions, which help to configure science as we know it today.

Another example, perhaps clearer, would be to imagine a biology class. In it, the cell is being taught as a didactic unit and the subjects that must assimilate the knowledge related to that subject are the students.

2. Object

The object is that which is to be known, be it a physical object, a person, an animal or an idea, or any other thing that can be learned.

There is an interesting relationship between the subject, who learns, and the object, what is learned, since, when these two interact, they have very different effects on each other. While in most cases the object remains unchanged, the subject, by knowing this first, changes his internal world, since he acquires new knowledge.

However, it should be noted that there are certain exceptions. An example of this would be in many scientific investigations in which the participants, who would be the object of study, change their behavior when feeling watched by the researchers, who would be the subjects (not in the experimental sense) who acquire new knowledge.

This is where we come into the idea of ​​objective knowledge and subjective knowledge, understanding this second as that knowledge acquired by the subject that differs from how the object of knowledge actually is.

To understand it more clearly, regardless of what the object of knowledge is, the subject who tries to understand it may or may not grasp it in its entirety. The subjectivity of the subject is the abyss between the knowledge he has acquired and the real knowledge of the object. Really, to arrive at totally objective knowledge is very difficult.

Taking again the example of the biology class, the object as an element of knowledge would be the unit itself. didactics of the cell and everything that is explained in it: parts, functions, types of cells, cell reproduction...

3. cognitive operation

It is the act of knowing a psychic processing that cannot be directly observed, necessary so that the subject can know the object and have an impression of it.

It differs from thought because cognitive operation is instantaneous, while the thought, which would become the impression in the process of acquiring knowledge, lasts over time.

Although this operation is brief, the thought resulting from the action remains in the knowledge of the subject for some time.

In the example of biology classes, the cognitive operations would be the actions that the students would carry out to assimilate the contents, such as reading the textbook, listening and processing what the teacher explains, looking at the cell images...

4. Thought or mental representation

The thought It is the impression or internal imprint that is produced every time an object is known.. It is what remains in the memory and is transformed into a series of thoughts that are evoked every time the object is glimpsed.

Thought, insofar as it is a representation, is always intramental. It can only be located in our mind, although we can express it through words or writing.

However, the object can be located both outside our mind, that is, be extramental, and be inside it, that is, be intramental. This is because an idea, political opinion or belief are also objects as elements of knowledge, being able to be studied by other people who will have their own thoughts about them.

As we have been commenting previously with the example of the biology class, in this case the subjects are the students, the object the topic about the cell and cognitive processes would be reading the book, paying attention to what is said in class or taking notes.

The thoughts or impressions that the students had about the content would vary from person to person, and may have an emotional component. One may think that what is taught in class is unnecessary, another that seeing cells gives him a certain apprehension and another that he is passionate about the small cytological universe.

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types of knowledge

Although the acquisition of a certain knowledge implies the four elements explained, it is worth noting some differences depending on the type of knowledge to be acquired.

1. empirical knowledge

empirical insights obtained through direct contact with the object of study, usually being something physical or objectively measurable. This type of knowledge constitutes the basic framework of laws and rules on which it is intended to know how the world operates.

2. theoretical knowledge

Theoretical knowledge is that which comes from an interpretation of reality, that is, itself. the object is an interpretation of something, whether or not it is external to the human mind. Of this type are usually many scientific, philosophical and religious beliefs.

For example, the idea of ​​happiness is a mental construct, not something directly observable in the mind. nature that, in addition, depending on the current of psychology and philosophy will have a definition different.

3. practical knowledge

They are knowledge that allow to obtain an end or perform a specific action. The object to acquire is an action, a way of behaving.

Bibliographic references:

• Habermas, J. (1987). Knowledge and Human Interests. Boston: Polity Press. ISBN 0-7456-0459-5.
• Blanshard, B., (1939), The Nature of Thought, London: George Allen and Unwin.
• Davidson, D., (1986), “A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge,” Truth And Interpretation, Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson, Ernest LePore (ed.), Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 307–19.