When one is
told that Brutus assassinated Caesar, or that the length of the
year is three hundred sixty-five and one fourth days, or that the
ratio of the diameter of the circle to its circumference is
3.1415 . . . one receives what is indeed knowledge for others,
but for him it is a stimulus to knowing. His acquisition of
knowledge depends upon his response to what is communicated.
3. Science or Rationalized Knowledge. Science is a name for
knowledge in its most characteristic form. It represents in its
degree, the perfected outcome of learning, -- its consummation.
What is known, in a given case, is what is sure, certain,
settled, disposed of; that which we think with rather than that
which we think about. In its honorable sense, knowledge is
distinguished from opinion, guesswork, speculation, and mere
tradition. In knowledge, things are ascertained; they are so and
not dubiously otherwise. But experience makes us aware that
there is difference between intellectual certainty of subject
matter and our certainty. We are made, so to speak, for belief;
credulity is natural. The undisciplined mind is averse to
suspense and intellectual hesitation; it is prone to assertion.
It likes things undisturbed, settled, and treats them as such
without due warrant. Familiarity, common repute, and
congeniality to desire are readily made measuring rods of truth.
Ignorance gives way to opinionated and current error, -- a
greater foe to learning than ignorance itself.
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