EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF

KNOWLEDGE, SUBJECT AND

CURRICULUM IN SOCIAL, POLITICAL
AND INTELLECTUAL CONTEXTS
INTRODUCTION
 Education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world - Nelson
 Knowledge is defined as facts, information and skills
acquired through experience or education- the theoretical
or practical understanding of a subject.
 In Philosophy, the study of knowledge is called
epistemology.
MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE
 According to Plato, justified true belief is knowledge.
Knowledge is a mix of framed experience, values,
contextual information and expert insight.
 Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding
of some one or something such as facts, information,
descriptions of skills, which is acquired through
experience or education, by receiving, discovering and
learning
 According to Swami Vivekananda is to find out unity in
the midst of diversity- to establish unity among things
which appeared to be different from another.
 According to Plato, knowledge is true opinion combined
with reason i.e. for which the claimant to knowledge can
give adequate grounds or rational justification.
 According to Dr. Radhakrishnan, “knowledge
presupposes unity or oneness of thought and being, a
unity that transcends the differentiation of subject or
object. Such knowledge is revealed in man’s very
existence. It is unveiled rather than acquired. knowledge
is concealed in ignorance and when the later is removed,
the former manifests itself.
 EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF
KNOWLEDGE
 One of the salient features that differentiate man from
animal is the gift of knowledge.
 Continuous growth and progress in man and is setting up
many an achievement.
 Some of the remarkable achievements made by man are

 Learning to lit a fire

 Inventing the wheel

 Developing sound symbols and scripts

 Evolution of the family system

 Invention of agriculture, hunting, production of cloth,

housing, medicine etc.
METHODS OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
BY MAN
 Sources of Knowledge
i. Knowledge gained from sensory experiences
ii. Knowledge derived from reasoning
iii. Authoritative knowledge

iv. Revealed knowledge

v. Intuitive knowledge
 I. KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM
SENSORY EXPERIENCES
 Experience gained by man through his five senses are the
sources of this kind of knowledge.
 Observation and interaction with others are responsible
for the knowledge acquired through human experiences
 II. KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM
REASONING
 Man could not acquire all knowledge through his senses
only.
 Man has the ability not only believing what he sees are
true but also the ability to think and visualize what he
could not directly see.
 Example Cannot see the atom, the micro particle that
constitutes each and every thing in the world around us,
but was discovered through scientific reasoning.
III. AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE
 Human knowledge gets endorsed only through the
authorities who propounded it.
 The expert, to whichever branch of knowledge they
belong to, if they are famous or an authority in particular
branch, then their views will be accepted without
objections.
 For example, the truth expounded by Buddha, Jesus,
Gandhiji, Newton and others could be taken as examples
of this type of knowledge.
IV. REVEALED KNOWLEDGE
 Sages and saints were blessed with divine revelations
and because of their piety, selflessness and moral
authority, people accept them as authoritative messages.
 Vedas, Bhagavath Gita, Bible and Holy Koran are some
of the examples
 Revealed knowledge are considered to be true for all
ties and places.
V. INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE
 Intuition means the ability to understand something
instinctively without the need for conscious reasoning. It
is different from revealed knowledge which is given to
great seers and prophets through divine will.
 But intuitive knowledge is got from within and it is
spontaneous.
 Archimedes got his flash of intuition while taking his
bathe
FACETS OF KNOWLEDGE
 Three important facets of knowledge

1. Participative Knowledge
2. Content Knowledge
3. Relational Knowledge
1. PARTICIPATIVE KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge about social environment is acquired through
participation in social activities. Activities like
participating in environmental cleanliness programmes,
discussing problems relating to child care and women’s
problem in general etc. provide a chance of meeting
different sections of people and getting direct knowledge
about them as well as developing social consciousness.
2.CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
 Refers to what is taught in educatioanl institutions as
outlined by the curriculum, syllabus, textbook and
progress in learning is periodically assessed by oral,
written or practical tests.
3. RELATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge and learning are related. Knowledge
acquisition helps in knowledge production, which is
possible only by continuous learning.
 Knowledge and experience contribute to the selection of
what to learn, when to learn, how to learn and in this
way the interaction between knowledge and experience
goes on, which leads to furtherance of knowledge.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
i. Sensory Knowledge
ii. Experiential Knowledge
iii. Demonstrative Knowledge
iv. Logical knowledge
v. Intuitive Knowledge
vi. Revealed Knowledge
vii. Digital Knowledge
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
i. Sensory Knowledge
Knowledge acquired through sense perceptions are
known as ‘sensory knowledge’. Sensations are transmitted
to the brain and are interpreted with the help of already
stored knowledge
ii. Experiential Knowledge
When sense perceptions are stored in mind as images
and applied in thinking whenever need arises, such kind of
knowledge acquired is called ‘Experiential Knowledge’.
Knowledge gained from observation, interaction with
others, discussion etc. included experiential knowledge.
iii. Demonstrative Knowledge
Knowledge acquired from things that could not be
explained through direct relations is termed as
‘Demonstrative Knowledge’. It is said to be used when we
are not able to perceive any direct relationship between two
ideas or events.
iv. Logical knowledge
Knowledge is acquired through the use of inductive
and deductive reasoning is called logical knowledge. Logic
is about the science of thinking or explaining the reasoning
for some occurance.
v. Intuitive Knowledge:
When one gets knowledge transcending conscious
experiences and reasoning is called ‘intuitive knowledge.
When the mind transcends the sensory perceptions and
intellectual reasoning and get deeply absorbed in the
highest level of consciousness enabling us to understand
situations, people’s feelings etc. immediately without the
need for conscious reasoning or study called intuition.
vi. Revealed Knowledge:
Knowledge that is beyond human experiences and
revealed by God or the Almighty to sages and saints
constitute revealed knowledge. Messages for the whole of
mankind or for an individual have been recorded and
cherished as they are believed to have come from some
supernatural power like God.
vii. Digital Knowledge:
Texts and documents stored in the digital form and is
accessible to computers represent ‘Digital Knowledge’.
In this modern era, knowledge of electronics and computer
applications has become the basic requirement for all
Acquiring the knowledge stored in the form of digital
information and developing the skills required to access
such information constitute ‘Digital Knowledge’.
SOME OF THE REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
OF MAN WITH THE HELP OF KNOWLEDGE
 Fire is one of the best invention
 Language is the single most important technological leap
for mankind.
 Creation of writing is the sole reason that mankind has
been accumulated knowledge.
 Invention of wheel improved the transport of things and
the progress of humanity.
 Creation of mental objects

 Invention of printing press

 Discovery and control electricity.