Learning the Theory of Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning the Theory of Knowledge - Essay Example Russell further contends that if a belief is to be causally important it must be defined as a characteristic of behavior. This explanation cannot be termed as definite because the result of the behavior or action determines if the belief held was true or false. If the search for food results in success, the belief was true but in case of failure, the belief is considered false. This does not truly justify that knowledge is true belief. Russell believes there are two methods of inference – deduction, and induction. The deduction is merely saying the same thing in another way while induction can be mistaken inference. Human beings have been endowed with sense organs or the organs of perception but most often these are all taken for granted. People know many things like whether they feel cold or hot; whether it is raining or snowing, or when the sun will rise or set. Descartes argues that the ideas about taste, feel, pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, sadness or happiness come to us without our consent (Newman, 2005). All these are perceived through the sense organs and with the assistance of the memory, they reach the imagination. The mind receives the data through the nerves from all parts of the body to produce sensory awareness. The mind has a habit of believing what it perceives. This registers in the mind as an experience or knowledge gained through experience. Each person acts or behaves according to their prior experience or their sense of perception. Organs of sight do not increase knowledge. The physical eyes merely see but unless what has been seen can be absorbed or truly perceived, the ‘seeing; has no meaning. Seeing is involuntary; perception is not. We conceive, perceive and assimilate what we are interested in. This experience differs from one person to another. When a glass is partially filled with water, the physical eyes perceive it.