Blog #1 Constructivist vs. Positive Article

Epistemology, what is it? As humans we try to quantify things and put labels on them. We like certain things to mean certain things. So what is the definition or label of Epistemology? It is the part of philosophy that attempts to define knowledge, what it is, and how to measure it.

There are two main theories on Epistemology, the first is Positive Epistemology, and the second is Constructivist.

Positive Epistemology is the theory that "knowledge," is something that is quantifiable; it's somewhat like an object in space that one can aqcuire by using science and observation. Positive Epistemology would argue that a person could go out into the world and aqcuire "knowledge," by observing and learning the facts about something such as flying. Knowing that the high and low pressures of a wing create the necessarily lift for flight would then be considered knowledge.

Constructivist Theory would argue almost the exact opposite. This theory implies that facts are not enough to be considered knowledge. Knowing that the high pressure on the bottom of a wing and the low pressure on the top of the wing isn't knowledge in it of itself, but the meaning behind this explanation is what Constructivist theororists believe. What does "high pressure," mean? What does lift mean? The answers to those questions are "knowledge."

I personally believe that "knowledge," can be explained very closely to the Constructivist Theory. Facts in this world are a given. We as human beings have defined "facts" as something that is proven to be true through observation or science. But just because I observe airplanes flying, doesn't mean I understand and have the meaning of flying. We give words to many things and some words have two meanings. I believe to have knowledge we must understand the meaning behind these words in order to attain knowledge. Understanding the facts and what facts mean is knowledge. If I were to teach someone the word "fact," from a country that didn't speak English, this person would just be string certain sounds together without any understanding of what "fact" is. They must understand our definition and meaning behind the word before they really KNOW what "fact," is.