THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE
- INTRODUCTION
Power is something used for
good or evil. The person may used for good in many activities, such as helping
the old man when passing the great street, for understanding the lessons and
for defend the fatherland. But in the evil, the person may use for do on the
sly, and kill the civilized men.
The knowledge is also gives
be used for good or evil, The knowledge naturally,
- Gives priest a power over king and people.
- Gives the civilized people a power over savage races.
- Has given people a power in democracies.
- Gives man a power over animals
Due to power with knowledge,
the leader may rule the people to gain their goal. The soldier may kill and
finally subdue the enemy. And definitely, the power with knowledge can make
every possible life.
And the question now is What
is man desire for power inherent in man? Why
many of man is concerned of the struggle for power? What is power either
physical or mental?
Epistemology (Greek episteme, “knowledge”;
logos, “theory”), branch of philosophy that addresses the philosophical
problems surrounding the theory of knowledge. Epistemology is concerned with
the definition of knowledge and related concepts, the sources and criteria of
knowledge, the kinds of knowledge possible and the degree to which each is
certain, and the exact relation between the one who knows and the object known.
- DISCUSSION
In the 5th century bc, the Greek Sophists questioned the
possibility of reliable and objective knowledge. Thus, a leading Sophist,
Gorgias, argued that nothing really exists, that if anything did exist it could
not be known, and that if knowledge were possible, it could not be
communicated. Another prominent Sophist, Protagoras, maintained that no
person's opinions can be said to be more correct than another's, because each
is the sole judge of his or her own experience. Plato, following his
illustrious teacher Socrates, tried to answer the Sophists by postulating the
existence of a world of unchanging and invisible forms, or ideas, about
which it is possible to have exact and certain knowledge. The things one sees
and touches, they maintained, are imperfect copies of the pure forms studied in
mathematics and philosophy. Accordingly, only the abstract reasoning of these
disciplines yields genuine knowledge, whereas reliance on sense perception
produces vague and inconsistent opinions. They concluded that philosophical
contemplation of the unseen world of forms is the highest goal of human life.
Aristotle followed Plato
in regarding abstract knowledge as superior to any other, but disagreed with
him as to the proper method of achieving it. Aristotle maintained that almost
all knowledge is derived from experience. Knowledge is gained either directly,
by abstracting the defining traits of a species, or indirectly, by deducing new
facts from those already known, in accordance with the rules of logic. Careful
observation and strict adherence to the rules of logic, which were first set
down in systematic form by Aristotle, would help guard against the pitfalls the
Sophists had exposed. The Stoic and Epicurean schools agreed with Aristotle
that knowledge originates in sense perception, but against both Aristotle and
Plato they maintained that philosophy is to be valued as a practical guide to
life, rather than as an end in itself.
After many centuries of
declining interest in rational and scientific knowledge, the Scholastic (see
Scholasticism) philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas and other philosophers of
the Middle Ages helped to restore confidence in reason and experience, blending
rational methods with faith into a unified system of beliefs. Aquinas followed
Aristotle in regarding perception as the starting point and logic as the
intellectual procedure for arriving at reliable knowledge of nature, but he
considered faith in scriptural authority as the main source of religious
belief.
REASON VERSUS SENSE PERCEPTION
From the 17th to the late
19th century, the main issue in epistemology was reasoning versus sense
perception in acquiring knowledge. For the rationalists, of whom the French
philosopher René Descartes, the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and the
German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz were the leaders, the main source
and final test of knowledge was deductive reasoning based on self-evident
principles, or axioms. For the empiricists, beginning with the English
philosophers Francis Bacon and John Locke, the main source and final test of
knowledge was sense perception.
Bacon inaugurated the
new era of modern science by criticizing the medieval reliance on tradition and
authority and also by setting down new rules of scientific method, including
the first set of rules of inductive logic ever formulated. Locke attacked the
rationalist belief that the principles of knowledge are intuitively
self-evident, arguing that all knowledge is derived from experience, either
from experience of the external world, which stamps sensations on the mind, or
from internal experience, in which the mind reflects on its own activities.
Human knowledge of external physical objects, he claimed, is always subject to
the errors of the senses, and he concluded that one cannot have absolutely
certain knowledge of the physical world.
The Irish philosopher
George Berkeley agreed with Locke that knowledge comes through ideas, but he
denied Locke's belief that a distinction can be made between ideas and objects.
The British philosopher David Hume continued the empiricist tradition, but he
did not accept Berkeley's
conclusion that knowledge was of ideas only. He divided all knowledge into two
kinds: knowledge of relations of ideas—that is, the knowledge found in
mathematics and logic, which is exact and certain but provides no information
about the world; and knowledge of matters of fact—that is, the knowledge
derived from sense perception. Hume argued that most knowledge of matters of
fact depends upon cause and effect, and since no logical connection exists
between any given cause and its effect, one cannot hope to know any future
matter of fact with certainty. Thus, the most reliable laws of science might
not remain true—a conclusion that had a revolutionary impact on philosophy.
The German philosopher
Immanuel Kant tried to solve the crisis precipitated by Locke and brought to a
climax by Hume; his proposed solution combined elements of rationalism with
elements of empiricism. He agreed with the rationalists that one can have exact
and certain knowledge, but he followed the empiricists in holding that such
knowledge is more informative about the structure of thought than about the
world outside of thought. He distinguished three kinds of knowledge: analytical
a priori, which is exact and certain but uninformative, because it makes
clear only what is contained in definitions; synthetic a posteriori,
which conveys information about the world learned from experience, but is
subject to the errors of the senses; and synthetic a priori, which is
discovered by pure intuition and is both exact and certain, for it expresses
the necessary conditions that the mind imposes on all objects of experience. Mathematics
and philosophy, according to Kant, provide this last. Since the time of Kant,
one of the most frequently argued questions in philosophy has been whether or
not such a thing as synthetic a priori knowledge really exists.
During the 19th century,
the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel revived the rationalist
claim that absolutely certain knowledge of reality can be obtained by equating
the processes of thought, of nature, and of history. Hegel inspired an interest
in history and a historical approach to knowledge that was further emphasized
by Herbert Spencer in Britain
and by the German school of historicism. Spencer and the French philosopher
Auguste Comte brought attention to the importance of sociology as a branch of
knowledge, and both extended the principles of empiricism to the study of
society.
The American school of
pragmatism, founded by the philosophers Charles Sanders Peirce, William James,
and John Dewey at the turn of this century, carried empiricism further by
maintaining that knowledge is an instrument of action and that all beliefs
should be judged by their usefulness as rules for predicting experiences.
EPISTEMOLOGY IN THE 20TH CENTURY
In the early 20th century,
epistemological problems were discussed thoroughly, and subtle shades of
difference grew into rival schools of thought. Special attention was given to
the relation between the act of perceiving something, the object directly
perceived, and the thing that can be said to be known as a result of the
perception. The phenomenalists contended that the objects of knowledge
are the same as the objects perceived. The neorealists argued that one
has direct perceptions of physical objects or parts of physical objects, rather
than of one's own mental states. The critical realists took a middle
position, holding that although one perceives only sensory data such as colors
and sounds, these stand for physical objects and provide knowledge thereof.
A method for dealing with
the problem of clarifying the relation between the act of knowing and the
object known was developed by the German philosopher Edmund Husserl. He
outlined an elaborate procedure that he called phenomenology, by which one is
said to be able to distinguish the way things appear to be from the way one
thinks they really are, thus gaining a more precise understanding of the
conceptual foundations of knowledge.
During the second quarter
of the 20th century, two schools of thought emerged, each indebted to the
Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The first of these schools, logical
empiricism, or logical positivism, had its origins in Vienna,
Austria, but it soon spread
to England and the United States.
The logical empiricists insisted that there is only one kind of
knowledge: scientific knowledge; that any valid knowledge claim must be
verifiable in experience; and hence that much that had passed for philosophy
was neither true nor false but literally meaningless. Finally, following Hume
and Kant, a clear distinction must be maintained between analytic and synthetic
statements. The so-called verifiability criterion of meaning has undergone
changes as a result of discussions among the logical empiricists themselves, as
well as their critics, but has not been discarded. More recently, the sharp
distinction between the analytic and the synthetic has been attacked by a
number of philosophers, chiefly by American philosopher W. V. O. Quine, whose
overall approach is in the pragmatic tradition.
The latter of these recent
schools of thought, generally referred to as linguistic analysis (see
Analytic and Linguistic Philosophy), or ordinary language philosophy, seems
to break with traditional epistemology. The linguistic analysts undertake to
examine the actual way key epistemological terms are used—terms such as knowledge,
perception, and probability—and to formulate definitive rules for
their use in order to avoid verbal confusion. British philosopher John Langshaw
Austin argued, for example, that to say a statement was true added nothing to
the statement except a promise by the speaker or writer. Austin does not consider truth a quality or
property attaching to statements or utterances.
Power is human being's energy which they do anything with it. To life in
this world a person always do accoarding to his idea. When he likes something,
he always has desire to get what does he like, if the person want to eat
meatball, he will go to the food center by invove the money, for looking what
he likes. But he never get something without any power, because a person life
in this world accoarding to his power. If the power situatuded in the mind of
person, he will do what he want, but if the power done he will do not
something. By the power, the leader may rule the people to gain their goal.
Desire for power inhernt in man. The students of Islamic boarding school
assert their powerby studiying hard, to face The First Mid Year Examination.
The lion assert it's power by make a resonating sound before another animals.
Every human being have different power, a high man and short man, a clever man and stupied man, they have
different power between each other. A people always show their power to get
their goal.
Man is always struggling for power. The power is usefull for every
people or human being, because they will get their goal with power. But in the
looking for power is difficult. For getting the power a man always increase
they selves, a lion make a resonating sound, a student study and learn to get understanding in
lessons. A savage races always do something to increase their power. In the
present, a man stake they power for live.
The power is either physical or mental. The power will run fast if the
physical and mental run faster. Physical is a man capacity which have the shape of body, and mental is man capacity which
generated in the mind. If the person have physic without mental is like human corpse. But if a person with
mental without physic is like angel or devil.
When a strong athlete throws down his opponent, or when army ravages a
country we at once understand what is physical power. Bun when a man commands
my love and respect, when he rules and controls the destiny of a nation without
the help of physical, force, we at once feel what is mental power.
- CONCLUSION
- Power is human being's energy which they do anything with it.
- To life in this world the person always do on his idea.
- Desire of power inhern in man.
- The man always struggling for power.
- By a power every man can do their willingness.
- The power is either physical or mental.
- Every people will do something accoarding his power.
- ORIGINAL TEXT
Outline:
- Desire for power inherent in man.
- Man is always struggling for power.
- The Power is either physical or mental.
- Power of knowledge is mental power.
- A Man has done much with this power.
- Illustration of his conquest over nature
- Illustration of his conquest over mind.
- The true in of knowledge
- Knowledge and wisdom
- Conclusion.
THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE
Desire of power is inherent in man. He is born and dies with it.The new
born baby assert its power by a shrill cry. The dying man exercise it by
willing a way his property.This craving for power assumes different shapes with
different men. Some want it in the form of rank, some in the shape of
anthority, some in rich and other in liberty to do as like. This desire for power
seems quite in keeping with the biblicalorgin of man, which says the man was
given after his creation " dominion over the fish of sea, and oven the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all creatures on the earth".
What wonder the man endowed with this sense of autority by God would crave for
it throughout his life?
The history of the world, so far as is concerned, is a history of a
stuggle for power, behind of vendetta of the savage the blood feuds of the primitive
tribes and the wars of civilized men, there is present one and only one idea
the assertion of power.
This power for which man stakes so much is of
two kinds, physical and mental. The power of sinews and muscles (either of and individual or of combination
of individuals) is physical ; the power is generated in the mind is mental.
When the strong athlete throws down his opponent or when the army ravages a
country we at once understand what is physical power. But when the man commands
my love and repect, when he rules and controls the destiny of a nation without
the help of physical force, we at once feel what is mental power. Gamma's
wrestling with the champion of the other part of the world is an exihibition of
physical strength. India
by fasting in a lonely a prison house, is a example of mental strength. Before
of the dawn of civilization, primitive
men mainly understood one kind of power and that was physical. Strength of arms
decided thing and right was might. Physical strength was the standard of all so
called moral judgements. A better stata of things came when principle an eue
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. " Was abandoned for trials by ordeal.
Gradually as civilization advanced, the mind of the man developed. The power of
mind came to be recognized as the superior order.
This power
of mind, which is engendered by an accumulation of more and more knowledge, has
achieved marvels in the world. All the great discoveries and invention on which modern life is based are but
acquisitions of knowledge.
The
invention of gun powder which han enable civilized nation to countries and
establish large empires, the conquest over the force of nature and harnessing
those forces to man's use the breaking down of barriers between man and man and
the conquest realization of the affinity of man all over thu world, the
development of art, science and cilivization, all these facts ultimately depend
upon mental power.
Nature has
yielded her mysteries to his power and God has revealed Himself to
man throught his knowledge. It has given by physical power and spiritual
strength at one and the same time.
A few a
illustrations of the power of knowledge will suffice. The building of a hut was
regarded as an achievement by the primitive man, the construction of a sky scraper is now within the easy reach of
the modern man. The uncivilized man thrice worshipped his deity before he could
go a few hundred yards in his rude canoe, the
man of to day is daily crossing the ocean with wonder at the
"speaking chip" which carried the throught of man to another a few
miles away, the man of to day is
transmitting message across continents without any 'chip' or visible medium.
Not only
physical nature, but also over the animal kingdom, a man has asserted his
power. We know of the ways of tiger, the lion
and the insect than were know to our uncerstors. We have also penetrated
into the heart of men and learnt to read
his thoughts. In a word, what was once thought impossible or miraculous is now
an easy thing and what to day is a mystery will be an open truth within the
course of a few hundred years.
Man has thus
gained immensely in mental strength. His art amd literature, his philosophy and
religion, his laws and institusions all reveal the power of knowledge. Behind
our admiration for poets, philosophers and scientists lies our tribute to the
power of knowledge. We respect and adore them because we feel that they are more blessed with
knowledge than the average man. Hero worship is but worship of knowledge. We
are told in the northern Savages that wotan gave one of his eyes to the giant
Mimir for a draught from the fourtain of knowledge. The men of to day are
sacrificing even their lives for such a thing. They are martyrs to knowledge,
the wonderful power of which has achieved marvels for men in the physical
world.
But great as
is the power of knowledge we should not use this power gain mere material
advantages. That would be worshipping the false god. That willl fill us with
pride and take away real blessing. Hence, is the necessity of using knowledge
for higher ends for knowing our selves and our maker. We must try to transmute
knowledge into wisdom, for :
Knowledge
is proud that he has learned so much
Wisdom is
humble that he knows no more
It is only
when we have realized this that we get desire to follow knowledge like a sinking
star beyond the utmost bound of human tought and we shall then realize the
thruth of the propet Ayyub's sorrow that spiritual strength is after all the
true strength.
So we see
that knowledge gives as not only power over the physical universe, but also
over mind. Hence it should be the aim of our life to increase thie mental pwer
by the help of knowledge. The rank of man should be determined not according to
his wealth of position or strength of mucles, but accoarding to the degree of
knowledge he has got. It is only when mainkind has relized this, that the world
will be controlled and ruled by the
power of mind or knowledge and not by physical force. We shall then feel that
knowledge is power.
- TRANSLATION
Keinginan untuk berkuasa itu tidak bisa dipisahkan
dari dalam diri manusia. Ia dilahirkan dan mati dengannya.bayi yang baru dilahirkan
menyatakan tenaganya oleh suatu tangis melengking. Orang Sekarat berlatih itu dengan cara yang yang ia miliki. Harapan ini untuk menguatkan asumsi
bentuk berbeda dengan orang berbeda. Beberapa kekurangan itu dalam wujud kedudukan,
beberapa bentuk wibawa, beberapa yang kaya dan yang lainnya dalam kebebasan
untuk melakukan apa yang mereka inginkan. Keinginan ini untuk berkuasa nampak
sungguh sehubungan dengan kitab injil yang berasal dari manusia, yang kata
orang telah diberikan setelah ciptaan nya" dominion melebihi ikan laut,
dan tungku unggas di angkasa, dan melebihi lembu dan melebihi semua makhluk
yang ada di bumi bumi". Apa yang mengherankan seseorang diwarisi dengan [perasaan/pengertian] sumber
ini demi Allah akan memohonkannya sepanjang;seluruh hidup nya?
Sejarah dunia, mengenai manusia dulu, adalah
suatu sejarah perjuangan kekuasaan, di belakang dendam yang turun temurun untuk
orang liar dendam kesumat suku bangsa yang primitif dan peperangan warga civil,
ada menyajikan satu-satunya dan satu gagasan pernyataan menggerakkan kekuasaan.
Kekuasaan ini di mana banyak orang
mempertaruhkan dua macam, mental dan phisik. kekuatan urat daging dan otot (
baik yang individu maupun kombinasi
individu) adalah phisik; kekuatan yang dihasilkan pikiran adalah mental. Ketika
atlit yang kuat menjatuhkan lawannya atau ketika angkatan perang membinasakan
suatu negeri dengan segera memahami apa yang dimaksud dengan kekuatan fisik. Tetapi
ketika orang memerintahkan cintaku dan hormat, ketika ia mengatur dan
mengendalikan tujuan suatu bangsa tanpa bantuan kekuatan fisik, kita dengan
segera merasakan apa itu kekuatan mental. Pergulatan dengan juara lain bagian dari dunia adalah suatu persaingan kekuatan
fisik. Jiwa orang India
dengan puasa suatu kesepian di suatu rumah penjara, suatu contoh kekuatan
mental. Sebelum mundurnya peradaban,
orang primitif yang sebagian besar memahami satu macam kekuatan dan itu adalah fisik.
Kekuatan lengan memutuskan sesuatu dan kebenaran adalah kekuatan. Kekuatan fisik
adalah standar dari segala sesuatu yang diberi nama penghakiman moral. Suatu keadaan
yang baik datang ketika prinsip mata untuk mata, gigi untuk gigi." Telah
diputuskan untuk diadili dengan siksaan berat. secara berangsur-angsur sebagai
peradaban mengedepan, pikiran orang telah berkembang. Kekuatan pikiran menjadi
dikenali seperti pesanan yang superior.
Kekuatan pikiran ini, yang mana disebabkan
oleh suatu akumulasi semakin banyak pengetahuan, telah mencapai keajaiban di
dunia. Semua penemuan dan penemuan yang besar yang di atasnya hidup modern
didasarkan tidak lain dari pengadaan pengetahuan.
Penemuan serbuk mesiu yang memungkinkan memberikan
peradaban ke negara-negara dan menetapkan kerajaan besar, penaklukan atas
kekuatan alam dan pemanfaatan kekuatan itu ke milik orang yang menggunakan pendobrakan
penghalang antara orang dan perwujudan penaklukan hubungan dekat mengawaki di seluruh dunia,
pengembangan seni, ilmu pengetahuan dan civilisasi, semua fakta ini
akhirnya tergantung pada kekuatan mental.
Alam
telah menghasilkan misterinya kepada kekuatannya dan Tuhan telah mengungkapkan Dirinya
untuk mengawaki seluruh pengetahuannya. Itu telah memberikannya kekuatan fisik
dan kekuatan rohani sependapat dalam waktu yang sama.
Beberapa ilustrasi kekuatan pengetahuan akan
mencukupi. Pembangunan suatu gubuk yang telah dihormati sebagai suatu prestasi
oleh seorang yang primitif, konstruksi suatu langit pengikis kini di dalam
jangkauan yang gampang manusia modern. seorang yang biadab tiga kali memuja
dewatanya sebelumia bisa pergi beberapa ratus yard dalam perahu lesung tidak
sopannya, seorang pada zaman ini berangkat sehari-hari memotong samudra dengan
mengherankan dia mengatakan "chip" yang membawa pikiran yang lainnya
beberapa miles pergi, seorang berangkat hari sedang memancarkan pesan ke
seberang benua tanpa 'chip' atau medium kelihatan.
Tidak hanya fisik yang dialami, tetapi juga
pembedaan binatang, seorang laki-laki telah menyatakan kemampuannya. Kita lebih
mengetahui tatacara harimau, singa dan serangga dibanding mengetahui nenek
moyang kita. Kita juga telah menembus ke dalam jantungn orang dan belajar untuk
membaca pemikirannya. Secara singkat, sekali ketika dipikirkan mustahil atau
ajaib kini suatu hal gampang dan apa yang terjadi pada hari ini adalah suatu
misteri akan merupakan suatu kebenaran terbuka di dalam keadaan beberapa ratus
tahun.
Manusia telah dengan begitu memperoleh sekali
di dalam kekuatan mental. Seni nya dan Literatur, agama dan filosofinya, hukumnya
dan institusinya. Semua mengungkapkan kekuatan pengetahuan. Di belakang
penghormatan kita untuk penyair, ahli filsafat dan ilmuwan ada upeti untuk kekuatan
pengetahuan. Kita menghormati dan memuja mereka sebab kita merasakan bahwa mereka
lebih diberkati pengetahuan dibanding dengan orang pada umumnya. Pemujaan Pahlawan tidak
lain dari pemujaan pengetahuan. Kita dikatakan Orang liar utara yang wotan memberi
salah satu dari matanya kepada raksasa Mimir untuk suatu campuran dari fourtain
pengetahuan. Orang-Orang suatau hari
sedang mengorbankan hidup mereka untuk
seperti itu. Mereka adalah martir ke pengetahuan, kekuatan yang sangat
bagus yang mana telah mencapai keajaiban untuk orang di dalam dunia phisik.
Tetapi
besar halnya kekuatan pengetahuan yang kita mestinya tidak menggunakan lagi
daya ini semata-mata keuntungan material. Itu akan memuja dewa yang palsu. kemauan
itu mengisi kita dengan kebanggaan dan menyingkirkan berkat riil. Karenanya,
adalah keperluan menggunakan pengetahuan untuk akhir yang lebih tinggi untuk
pengetahuan tentang diri kuta dan pembuat kita. Kita harus mencoba untuk merubah
pengetahuan ke dalam kebijaksanaan, untuk:
Pengetahuan adalah kebanggaan bahwa ia telah
mempelajari banyak
Kebijaksanaan adalah sederhana bahwa ia tidak
lagi mengetahui
Itu hanyalah ketika kita sudah sadari. ini
yang kita dapatkan keinginan untuk mengikuti pengetahuan seperti tenggelamnya
suatu bintang di luar untuk terikat yang paling manusia mengajarkan dan kita
kemudian akan sadari kebenaran Duka cita Ayyub's yang rohani kekuatan betapapun
kekuatan benar.
Maka
kita lihat bahwa pengetahuan memberi kita tidak hanya menggerakkan atas alam
semesta phisik, tetapi juga atas pikiran. Karenanya haruslah tujuan tentang
hidup kita untuk meningkatkan kekuatan mental oleh bantuan pengetahuan. Ranking
orang tidak harus ditentukan menurut kekayaan posisi nya atau kekuatan mucles,
tetapi memacu kepada derajat tingkat pengetahuan yang ia punyai. Itu hanyalah
ketika akal manusia mempunyai kesadaran ini, bahwa dunia akan dikendalikan dan
dikuasai oleh kekuatan pikiran atau pengetahuan dan bukan oleh kekuatan phisik.
Kita kemudian akan merasakan pengetahuan adalah kekuatan itu.
- VOCABULARIES
- Assert : To state something clearly and forcefully as the truth
- Assume : To take or begin to have power authority, etc
- Craving : A strong desire
- Creation : The making of the world, esp by God, as told in Bible
- Endow : To provide something with a good quality, ability, feature
- Vendetta : A series of hamfull or affensive action directed by one person against another
- Engender : To be a cause of a situation or condition
- Accumulation : To obtain gradually or gather to gather an increating number or quality of something
- Achieve : To be successfully
- Marvels : Wonderfull result or achievements
- Civilized : Having high moral standard
- REFERENCE
- Bahroni, Imam, MA. MLSc, Learning Advance English, PPMD 2005
- Oxford Advance Learner's Dictionary
- Ecols, John M, An English – English Dictionary
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