The Measure of Knowledge

Paper Summary:

The writer explores the topic that to some knowledge is an absolute, to others; it is that which is gained through long hours of observation and long years of experience. The facts that make up what we call knowledge may be composed of absolutes, or they may be composed of many opinions, opinions that we believe to be most accurate or most correct.

From the Paper:

"For the social scientist, knowledge is much more likely to be composed of subjective determinations, or a combination of subjective determinations and objective evidence, rather than simply of what most would call objective fact. It is in the nature of the business. Historians, grammarians, literary critics, psychologists, musicologists, and so on study subjects that cannot really be measured or quantified, at least not in the fullest sense. A historian can compile lists of dates, kings' reigns and presidential terms, days of battles won, and political campaigns lost. He can look through the records of names and places and see what happened where, and what was done by whom. Clearly, these are abstract facts. Yes, if the information you are looking at is accurate. The Russian Revolution began on February 18, 1917. Oh wait a minute, or is that March 3,1917? It all depends on whether you are using the Julian Calendar, the one that was in use in Russia at the time the Revolution broke out " the February date " or the Gregorian Calendar that was in use in most of the rest of the world the March date. These are not different facts per se, but they certainly can cause a great deal of confusion when it comes to one's knowledge of the Russian Revolution."

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