CIVICS Note for

GRADE 10
Unit 11
The Pursuit of Wisdom
 Lessons of the chapter

The Relationship between Knowledge

and Wisdom
The Three Fundamental Forms of
Knowledge
Use of Information
Knowledge and the Habit of Reading
Truthfulness
 The General objectives of the chapter

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

Explain the relationship between knowledge
and wisdom.
Describe the three forms of knowledge.
Describe the different sources of information.
Explain what is meant by the skill of using
information.
Describe how data is collected.
 The Nature of Knowledge

 According to classical definition, knowledge is justified,

true belief or true opinion combined with reason.
 Knowledge is a theoretical and practical
understanding of a subject.
 It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or
Explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a
subject), formal or informal, systematic or particular.
 Plato specifies that a statement must meet three criteria in
order to be considered Knowledge; it must be:
 Justified, 2. True and 3. Believed.
 Cont…
Believe must be true to be knowledge, but knowledge is more
than simply having true belief, as plato suggested in the Meno-
a philosophical fiction, based on real people who took part in
important historical events.
It means knowledge is not merely collecting information but
meaningful information.
He finally called knowledge as ‘Justified true beliefs.
The philosophical study of knowledge is called Epistemology.
 Epistemology

 is first given by the Aristotle.

 The word episteme is the true, universal and
definitive scientific knowledge, logos means
speech or word.
 It is a term first used by the Scottish philosopher
James Frederick Ferrier on the model of
ontology to describe the branch of philosophy
concerned with the nature and scope of
knowledge, which is called the true beginning of
philosophy (Alston, 1989; Suchting, 2006).
 Cont…
 Deals with knowledge, and examines the nature of
knowledge, the processes through which we acquire
knowledge, and the value of knowledge.
 It also focuses on acquiring skills in learners to discover or
construct knowledge.
 It concerns the nature and justification of knowledge.
 It also helps in selecting the appropriate teaching method.
  knowledge consists of concepts, principles, and mental processes
committed to memory. 
 Metaphysics

 is derived from the Greek Meta ta physika-after the things of

nature.
 It is the study of those which cannot be reached through
objective studies of material reality.
 It also examines the fundamental nature of reality including the
relationship between:
Mind and matter,
Substance and attribute,
Potentiality and actuality.
SCHOLARS/DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE

 “The fact of knowing a thing, state, person, a state of

being aware or informed, consciousness.” – According
to Oxford English Dictionary (1973)
 Knowledge is the consciousness, identification, and
applied it for the development of the humankind.
 It is created in the human minds and increases when
people are involved in its acquisition and dissemination
(Nasimi et al., 2013).
 Dewey denotes knowledge is ‘inferred from truth.
 Cont…
 Knowledge is a fluid mix of experience, related information
and expert insight that offers a structure for evaluating and
integrating new experiences and information. (Davenport
and Prusak, 1997).
 It is a dynamic framework from which information may be
stored, processed and understood (Plotkin, 1994).
 It is considered as a dynamic human process of justifying
personal belief toward the truth (Nonaka and Takeuchi,
1995).
Meaning of Knowledge

Knowledge is the body of truths or facts accumulated by

mankind in the course of time, as for example ‘man’s
knowledge of the moon’.
Knowledge is a meaningful structure of facts into some
relationships.
We can define knowledge as:
 The fact of knowing;
 Information or what is already known;
 The whole of what can be learned or found out.
 Cont….
We can further define knowledge as:
 Assured belief (የተረጋገጠ እምነት)
Information (መረጃ)
Enlightenment(መገለጽ)
Practical skill and acquaintance(ተግባራዊ ችሎታ እና መተዋወቅ)።
Comprehension(ግንዛቤ)
Understanding(መረዳት)
Judgment(ፍርድ)

Science and Lore(WAG/LIMAD).

 CONT…
As used by teachers and educators the term ‘concept of
knowledge’ refers to:
The information that teacher teaches and students are
expected to learn in given subject or content area.
Knowledge is related to the facts, concepts, theories, and
principles that are taught.
It is not related to the skills such as reading, writing or
researching that students learn in academic courses.
The outcome of analysis of relevant data and information
 Cont…

 Knowledge can be defined as the information, understanding or

skills that you gain through education or experience.
 It also means learning about particular facts, ideas or
situations.
 “Knowledge is an organized set of statement of fact or an idea,
presenting a reasoned judgment or an experimental result, which
is transmitted to others through some communication medium, is
some systematic form.
 Knowledge is an understanding concerning places, people and
issues around us.
 It is mental instrument to identify helpful from harmful.
 Knowledge is something we get from teachers, reading
books and studying environment.
 Knowledge is our understanding about animals, earth, air
condition and technology.
 Knowledge is the property of our minds, which can be
gained by our age, experience and education.
 Knowledge is a mental grasp of the facts of reality.
 It’s the actual power we can have. The most powerful tool in the world is not money,
arms, or ammunition; it is the power of knowledge.
 Knowledge gives us the power to achieve physical strength and also spiritual strength to conquer
the world.

 It’s a person’s beliefs, perspectives, concepts, judgments, and

expectations, methodologies
 It’s the sum total of what has been Perceived, discovered, inferred
 It’s the totality of ideas, concepts, thoughts, skills, awareness,
experiences, values, contextual information acquired from different
sources.
 Cont…
• Question1
How can knowledge be used negatively?
• Answer:
If knowledge comes to evil hands, it can also cause destruction. With knowledge,
we have the power over nature to take advantage, but with the same knowledge,
one can also destroy nature.
• Question2
Why is knowledge said to be as power?
• Answer:
Knowledge can solve any problematic situation and help us differentiate the paths
of good or bad. With this power, you can create a glorious future as well as you
can destroy it.
• Question 3
How can knowledge bring prosperity to the nation?
• Answer:
A knowledgeable person will find ways to create wonders for the nation. With the
available resources, a knowledgeable person can build advanced technologies to
help the human being.
 Features of knowledge
 Knowledge is infinite-having no limits, not static
 Knowledge never decays-never destroyed
 It is a processed information
 It is the wing where with we fly to heaven.
 It is the fuel that drives human life
 The primary factor that clearly distinguishes the human race
from the animals.
 It’s said to be the 3rd eye of man
 It is instruction, learning,
 Knowledge is boundess
 Cont….
 It’s the means to reach truth
 It’s the biggest wealth, weapons of human beings; never lost or fades
like other wealth
 Involves the gathering of information and data
 Knowledge has to be renewed or maintained.
 Win-win sharing: if you share your knowledge with another person,
the first person does not lose it
 Portable: it can be summarized, compressed or divided in manageable
units for easier transfer and management
 Transferable: it can move from place to place; explicit knowledge, in
particular, can easily be distributed via networks to many people
 build starting from birth throughout your life.
 The purpose/significance of knowledge
 It offers alternative ways of doing things.
 Used to understand more about your-self and your surroundings.
 Used as a compass to guide you in the right course of life.
 Used to avoid harmful traditional practices; e.g abduction, early marriage, female
genital mutilation.
 Takes the man from darkness to light.
 Used as a means to reach truth.
 Has helped man develop the power of reasoning-a process of thought that helps to
make objective judgment.
 It influences the way man lives and interacts with nature.
 Knowledge offers alternative ways of doing things,
 Knowledge forms the basis for our feelings, attitudes and values.
 Knowledge helps to determine the course of action to choose when doing
something.
 Knowledge is like a torchlight in dark that clearly shows the way forward.
 Cont….
 It develop or raises self-reliance, self-esteem, self-
confidence…of a person
 Decrease mental pressures
 Directs us to be free from any kind of influence
 Provide tools and opportunities to those who hold it.
 Help us to differentiate right and wrong
 Reduce negativity
 Extend possibility
 Enhance our thinking capabilities and make decisions
 Helps us finding solutions to different problems
 Knowledge and Wisdom
Knowledge
 It is a composed of facts, information, data,
skills
 is information of which someone is aware.
 is also used to mean the confident
understanding of a subject, potentially with
the ability to use it for a specific purpose.
 It is the totality of ideas, concepts, thoughts
and skills acquired from different sources.
 Knowledge also defined as the information,
understanding or skill that you gain through
education or experience.
 Knowledge is learning about particular
facts, ideas or situations
 It is the outcome of analysis of relevant
data and information.
wisdom
 It is the ability to use that
knowledge in a profound way.
 A composed of knowledge,
experience, good judgment
 It is the ability to make correct
judgments and decisions.
 It is an intangible quality gained
through our experiences in life.
 Wisdom isn’t about what you
know. It’s about how you see.
 Wisdom happens when you take
knowledge and apply it to your life
in a such a way that adds meaning
and promotes the common good.
 Cont…
knowledge
 knowledge is a part
 Can be simply comes from learning
or education
 The reward of education-the product
of schooling always
 Can be acquired simply
 Knowledge is required for wisdom.
 You can have knowledge without
wisdom,
 practical use of knowledge
Knowledge comes first.
 'knowledge speaks but wisdom
listens'.
 can be accumulated
Wisdom
 is the whole; goes beyond learning facts
and includes making sense of those
facts.
 Cannot be simply acquired through
education-comes from living
 The reward of experience and should be
shared-not always the product of
schooling
 The good use of knowledge
 Gained through the accumulation and
 you can’t have wisdom without
knowledge.
 can be accumulated
 It is to be able to have a mature
understanding of things, to make
sensible decisions.
 The three fundamental forms of knowledge
 There are three forms of knowledge. Those are:
1. Fact(s):
 are information that is observed to be true. it is a thing that is known to be
consistent with objective reality and can be proven to be true with
evidence.
 is what people cannot disagree.
 It is something that exists or is present in reality.
 They do not have any level of inductive or deductive knowledge applied
to them.
 are things that can be seen visually, actually verified and are objective
matters.
 It is something universal and can be proven.
 Cont…
 is something that actually exists or existed, object or
event, and can be verified by observation.
 are single occurrences. e.g.
 The colour of the Ethiopian flag is Green, Yellow and
Red.

 Pythagorean Theorem, a2+b2=c2

 A triangle is a plane figure with three straight sides and
three angles.
2. Concept(s):
 is an idea, abstract or thought that comes from the analysis of facts.
 Different thought are combined to form concepts.
 So, concepts involve analysis, evaluation and comparison.
 Concepts are product of careful thinking.
 Concepts are abstract ideas that are more difficult to define and understand, but are often
the basis of generalizations.
 Is a derived, abstracted form of knowledge.
 Scientific theories such as Archimedes Principle or Boyle’s Law were developed through
factual knowledge to create these concepts.
 The relationship b/n pressure and volume.
 At constant temperature, the volume of a fixed amount of a Gs is inversely proportional to
its pressure
 P1V1=P2V2
• P1-first pressure
• P2=second pressure
• V1=first volume
• V2=second volume
3. Generalizations:
 is the statement, principle or opinion based on some but not all of the
facts.
 It is the relationship between two or more concepts.
 The purpose of generalization is to express more than what a single facts
or concept can express. E.g. 1
P1. all grade 10th students are clever
P2. Tolashi is student of grade 10th
C1.Therefore, Tolashi is clever.
e. g 2
P1. Human being is mortal
P2.Lemma is human being
C1.Therefore, Lemma is Mortal
 The use of information
• Information is data that has been processed to make it meaningful and useful.
• A data that are gathered, interpreted and analyzed for practical uses
• A knowledge in the form of facts
• Is an organized, meaningful, useful, structured
• Are important for decision making
• Sources of Information
• It may be gathered through looking, listening, smelling, touching and testing.
• ➢ Observation- is a serious watch of occurrences and practices in our environments.
• ➢ Print media e.g. books, magazines, newspapers, journals and etc
• ➢ Electronic media, e.g. internet, radio, TV, computers, schooling, visiting
• Data refers to is a raw fact, figure and other detail that describe people, place,
objects and events and obtained from experiments or survey
• It is information gathered from survey and raw fact, unprocessed information that
has not been
• interpreted, manipulated in any way.
• Data is the basis for making calculation or drawing calculations or drawing
conclusions.
 Instruments of Data Collection
• There are different instruments of data collection. Those are:
• Questionnaires- closed and open questionnaires
• Observation-is a serious watch of occurrences and practices
in our environments.
• Focus group discussion
• Interviews(through face-to-face and telephone)
• NOTE
• All information need not be knowledge
• Information alone is not sufficient to make any predictions while in
knowledge prediction is possible if one possesses the required experience
• Information is easily transferable while to transfer knowledge you require
learning
• th
 DATA AND INFORMATION
Data
 A collection of facts and
figures
 Obtained from experiments
or survey
 Unorganized forms
 It is not directly useful form
 Needs processing, it is raw
facts
 Termed as input
 Requires observation
recording
Information
 A collection of final results
 An organized and structured
forms
 Is directly in useful forms
 No need of processing
 Termed as output
 It requires analysis
 To evaluate, it requires
observation and
experimentation
INFORMATION
• All information need not be
knowledge
• Information alone is not sufficient
to make any predictions
• Information is easily transferable
• The outcome of information is
comprehension
• Can be reproduced
• Developed from data
KNOWLEDGE
• while in knowledge prediction is
possible if one possesses the
required experience
• while to transfer knowledge you
require learning
• Its outcome is understanding
• Knowledge production is not
possible
• Can provide all the necessary data
• Developed from information
Knowledge and the Habit of Reading
 Reading is an important means of acquiring knowledge.
 A process of constructing meaning from a written materials
 Involves reader and material to be read
 The purpose is depend upon the reader
 Is one of the cornerstones of formal and informal learning
 The habit of reading starts when you are committed to read and make it a
culture.
 A great reader is a person who:
*Does not waste his/her time for no use
*Reads continuously to get new information
 E.g kebede michael, yilma deressa, tsegaye G/medhin
 Its primary purpose is to get knowledge
 Remembering is not essential or mandatory
 The possibilities of what you can do with the ability to read are endless.
 In general, the habit of reading offers the opportunity to get more knowledge to
make a difference.
 People with knowledge command respect in society.
 Truthfulness
 Truthfulness refers being honest in what one says and
does.
 Strategyproofness and accuracy
 You have the moral and legal duty to tell the truth.
 It is important to be truthful to others.
 Truthfulness is one of the characteristics of a good
citizen.
 If you do some damage at home or in school then you
have to tell the truth about it.
 If you try to hide and implicate others for your own
wrong-doings, this is morally wrong and will do much
harm.
Cont…
 Even though humans can make mistakes, there is the
opportunity to learn from our own mistakes.
 In order to learn from one’s own mistakes, the first thing is to
admit to them.
 You have to be open to learn from your own mistakes rather
than attempting to hide them.
 When you are a truthful citizen, you gain the respect you
deserve.
 Truthfulness allows you to be honest about yourself to
yourself, and to others
 It leads to righteousness
THE END
THANK YOU
MORE!