1,949
26
Essay, 2 pages (300 words)

Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge

To what extent does it make sense to talk of knowledge in terms of ‘ acquaintance’ and ‘ description’? This assignment, I will try and explain the two relevant undertones in knowledge, and to what extent I can use them to describe knowledge to. The theory of Knowledge in terms of acquaintance and knowledge by description, was initially constructed by Bertrand Russell, who protested the word to ‘ know’ in this context believing it to be unclear and ambiguous, and thought that the vagueness of the word know stemmed from the failure to distinguish between two different types of knowledge. He wanted to clear up that there are indeed different types of knowing and different types of knowledge, and began his criticisms due to equivocal nature of the word ‘ know’, the two types being; knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description, because he believed if there wasn’t a clear distinction between these two, it would create unnecessary confusion in the English language.

After distinguishing two differentiating types of knowledge, the entire chapter of 5 of Russell’s’ ‘ Problems of Philosophy’ is entirely devoted to the knowledge of things, it is titled ‘ Knowledge by acquaintance, and knowledge by description’. The argument goes further than Russells work, it is a largely debated and commented on subject. Philosopher John Grote commented on other languages and their distinction between ‘ to know’, for example Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish all have different words for different contexts of the word in the context of ‘ to know’. William James, psychologist and philosopher of around the 19th Century, provided a developed view of this theory, I feel that when trying to learn the complexity’s of Russells development of the theory at hand, it is important to begin from where the idea came from;‘ I am acquainted with many people and things, which I know very little about, except their presence in the places where I have met them. I know the colour blue when I.

..

Thank's for Your Vote!
Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge. Page 1
Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge. Page 2
Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge. Page 3

This work, titled "Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge" was written and willingly shared by a fellow student. This sample can be utilized as a research and reference resource to aid in the writing of your own work. Any use of the work that does not include an appropriate citation is banned.

If you are the owner of this work and don’t want it to be published on AssignBuster, request its removal.

Request Removal
Cite this Essay

References

AssignBuster. (2021) 'Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge'. 18 December.

Reference

AssignBuster. (2021, December 18). Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge. Retrieved from https://assignbuster.com/bertrand-russell-acquaintance-and-knowledge/

References

AssignBuster. 2021. "Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge." December 18, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/bertrand-russell-acquaintance-and-knowledge/.

1. AssignBuster. "Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge." December 18, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/bertrand-russell-acquaintance-and-knowledge/.


Bibliography


AssignBuster. "Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge." December 18, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/bertrand-russell-acquaintance-and-knowledge/.

Work Cited

"Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge." AssignBuster, 18 Dec. 2021, assignbuster.com/bertrand-russell-acquaintance-and-knowledge/.

Get in Touch

Please, let us know if you have any ideas on improving Bertrand russell, acquaintance and knowledge, or our service. We will be happy to hear what you think: [email protected]