Theory of knowledge
Knowledge Frameworks
Ethics is the moral responsibility one has when one tries to propagate an idea of knowledge. Knowledge is usually expected to be ethically and politically correct. Knowledge is affected by various factors so is ethics. Socio-economic, cultural, religious factors can cause a shift over in the system. Sometimes ethics is deeply embedded that even the fluctuations in the surroundings would not affect it in any severity. Let us understand this knowledge framework through the below knowledge questions:
Knowledge questions
DO ESTABLISHED VALUES CHANGE IN THE FACE OF NEW KNOWLEDGE?
There are two sides to this question. It can come around in two ways. For example, when we take the optional theme of Knowledge and religion, situations that revolve around faith have a very adept foundation which is quite difficult to change even when there is an influx of new knowledge. Faith has many factors which hold it strong in the minds of people. These factors are a setback to upholding the beliefs and are usually unable to think outside that purview.
Quite some time back in Kerala, there was an issue that gained international attention. There is a temple called “Sabarimala” with a deity who is believed to have been a virgin and this, in turn, restricted the entry of women of the reproductive age i.e., from the age group of 10-50 years. The practice has been continued for quite a long period of time until there was a case moved against the same asking for the permit for entry of women under the constitutional rights and the new-age feminism.
This led to a very infamous brawl between people who believed in women’s empowerment and the ardent believers of the system. Eventually, there was a mix of law, politics, and religion in this controversial subject.
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The initiation of the clash itself shows that how religious sentiments are deeply rooted in the minds of a very large group of people. Even when we claim that we are a set of well-informed individuals, we are unable to look past even in the advent of new information.
Consider another example. In an era, it was believed that Earth is the center of the universe which is a concept called the Geocentric model. This concept conveyed the idea that the sun, moon, stars, and all celestial bodies used to revolve around the Earth.
It was Nicholas Copernicus who has put forward the theory of Heliocentrism, a theory that is the exact opposite of the Geocentric model, which meant that Earth and all other celestial bodies actually revolved around the sun. Due to the fear of being disregarded, he didn’t have the guts to publish this theory and showed it out only a few years before his death.
The change happened when Galileo found out that Jupiter has its own moons and which completely threw off the concept of the Geocentric Model. Galileo was questioned for this finding of his by the Catholic Church and was even arrested for the same for the propagation of baseless ideas. He was tried for heresy and was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.
The New York Times, which states that after 350 years, Vatican has finally accepted the theory proposed by Galileo.
So, in the event of additional information and proper evidence, the community who believed the wrong assumption was focused on changing their ideology because of the strong foundation provided by the advent of new information.
The irrational thoughts put forward by the church of not accepting facts even after having enough supporting evidence may be seen as ethically and morally suppressive just because it didn’t fit into their particular ideology or belief. So, in the event of additional information and proper evidence, the community who believed the wrong assumption was intuitive in changing their ideology because of the effective understanding provided by the advent of new information.
This acceptance may not come in all cases. It’s the knower’s ability to validate the knowledge they possess and scrutinize the same and possibly make changes as and when there are better understandings on the subject of scrutiny.
Knowledge questions
WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES REST ON THE KNOWER AS A RESULT OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN THESE THEMES/AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE?
The responsibility of a knower on the knowledge is probably using the possession of the knowledge in a meaningful way. When we share information, it has to be kept in mind that we have a definite source and have proper evidence to it.
In today’s world, there is a lot of space for information to be shared far and wide without even acknowledging the fact as to if the information is true or false. Within a short span of time, it reaches millions of people. Thanks to the well-developed internet age and the connectivity through it. These unwarranted discussions on baseless topics have even led to riots, anxiety, conflicts, etc.
The onset of this pandemic can be a recent connotation of how fake news have the ability to influence people. The news regarding the vaccines being bad for health, that humans are being magnetically coded are all running through social media. Due to this fake propaganda, people are now refusing to take vaccines. This is how medical misinformation goes around which is a very dangerous trend to take in.
As we have moved across channelizing what ethics means with respect to knowledge, we have come across the fact it’s always not very easy to imbibe the same in our day-to-day activities. It’s quite difficult to disseminate information that is morally correct. But eventually, when we get to know the fact that it might have been wrong, we do have the opportunity to rectify it.
Ethics is definitely a valuable characteristic of knowledge as it gives the ideologies the needed appreciation and acceptance amongst the knowers. It gives a sense of responsibility to put forward actual and quality information. Therefore, it is always better to have a well-informed idea of what you are trying to convey or even leaving a certain space out if at all they need of faultless flow of information.
If you like what you read, you might consider reading other frameworks such as perspectives
