Boriana

Freshman Seminar

"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" J. M. Clark

This modern piece of wisdom reflects the centuries old view that knowledge is desirable and beneficial and one should strive to obtain as much of it as one can. Put into the words of economics it asserts that the more knowledge one has the more one can produce - refering not only to goods and services but also to thoughts and ideas.

The analysis of knowledge can be tracked down to 5-4th century BC when Aristotle and before him Plato concluded that knowledge is good. The present essay discusses the questions 'what is the nature of our knowledge about the world' and 'how should we apply that knowledge in a decision-making process' according to the two ancient philosophers. Aristotle starts with scrutinizing the soul dividing it in multiple divisions and assigning a function to every one of them. He argues that intelligence is what initiates science and together with desire it is one of the two elements that determine a choice. Plato differntiates four stages of cognition decsribed in the "Devided line" and believes that knowledge equals virtue, that is that a wise person would necessarily choose to act in accordance to justice. His theory is that a pre-requisite for knowledge is the Good. Here can be discovered one of the fundamental differences between Aristotle and Plato: Aristotle puts all potentiality in the hands of individuals and it depends on them to be what they want to be. He is anti-deterministic and seek knowledge and truth directly in the person. Plato, on the other hand, looks for external explanations, he explains the presence or lack of knowledge on the presence or lack of the Good, which is an idea external to the individual as opposed to the internal nature of intelligence, which is a skill varying from person to person.

Aristotle's theisis is that "we must choose the median... and the median is what right reason dictates" [p. 146]. For true understanding of the median on eshould know what is right reason, and he compares the situation to taking medicine as prescribed - it is a question of automatic obedience rather than grasping the essence of health and medicine. Right reason logically should be situated in the soul. Aristotle provides several ways of deviding the soul. Firstly, it devides into two types of virtues: of character (moral) and of thought and understanding (intellectual). Secondly, it consists of two parts - a rational and an irrational one. In the act of choice the divisions employed are the intellectual virtue and the rational part. Dividing further, the rational part possesses two elements: "with one of these we apprehend the realities whose fundamental principles do not admit of being other than they are, and with the other we apprehend things which do admit of being other"[p. 147]. The first group includes sciences and precise studies whose truths are accepted and proven to be effective. The second set contains arts and studies that are to be discussed and determined. Aristotle calls them scientific and calculative elements. Separating these into smaller particles Aristotle introduces five approaches of asserting the truth by the soul: through art, science, practical wisdom, theoretical wisdom and intelligence.

Art, according to him, is responsible for producing in accordance to right reason and it is calculative in the sense that it concerns what admits of being other than it is. Science belongs to the scientific elements, that is, it cannot be other than it is and thus its objects exist of necessity and are eternal - e.g. a meter has 100 centimeters, it cannot be otherwise no matter how long one thinks it over, and it will always have 100 centimeters - even after another millenium. Practical wisdom belongs to the calculative group (which is the same as deliberative group according to Aristototle). It has "the capacity of deliberating well about what is good and advantageous for oneself " [p. 152]. There is no excellence in practical wisdom in difference from art where one can attain mastery of art. Another important distinction from art is that practical wisdom is concerned with acting rather than producing and its goal is the action itself rather than an end which extends beyond the production process. Practical wisdom is what takes active part in decision making. Theoretical wisdom "must comprise both intelligence and scientific knowledge" [p. 156], it includes possession of information, facts and theories, as well as the skill to know how to apply them and deliberate about them. Intelligence is the faculty that is concerned with fundamental principles and this Aristotle derives through logical exclusion: something must apprehend fundamental principles; there are five faculties that tell the truth: art, science, practical wisdom, theoretical wisdom and intelligence; art and practical wisdom are deliberative; since fundamental principles are the basis for science, science itself cannot be the basis for science; theoretical wisdom requires demonstration or application and since the fundamental principles are not demostatable (like axioms) they are not grasped by theoretical wisdom; therefore the only faculty left is intelligence and it must be the one in charge of fundamental principles.

Having clarified the distinctions between the faculties and divisions of the soul the next task is to determine their function in decision making and choice. As mentioned before, the two elements that take active part in making a choice are intelligence and desire. Aristotle parallels the two: "What affirmation and negation are in the realm of thought, pursuit and avoidance are in the realm of desire" [p. 148]. In order a choice to be made by an individual there must be available simultaneously both affirmation and pursuit. Only then is the choice in consent with the will of the individual. "The starting poin tof choice... is desire and reasoning directed to some end" [p. 148]. Aristotle places a special emphasis on the end and devotes considerable effort on clarifying the difference of ends and means, as well as elucidating what is the final end that everyone is striving for. In the context of choice Aristotle emphasizes the fact that there cannot be a choice, no matter whether there is intelligence or not, if there is no end to which to direct it. The end acts as motivation.

Using dictionary appropriate to his times Aristotle initiates the discussion of modern and very relevant to today's education issues, such as the art of decision making (choice) and motivation (having an end). Despite the view of many (and of Plato too) that rationality should govern one's actions and choices, Aristotle introduces the concept of desire as a factor in the process of choosing. The end is a human end therefore it is determined by human characteristics such as desire. Here, again, the individualism of Aristotle can be observed - for the desire is a personal experience relative to the person that is having the desire. Later on Aristotle asserts that it is moral excellence or virtue that makes us aim at the right target. Therefore it must be moral excellence or virtue that direct one's desire, and though desire do they set the right target. Aristotle, too, makes generalizations and assumes that the right target for everyone is happiness "we always choose happiness as an end in itself and never for the sake of something else"[p. 15]. However one is free to define happiness in whatever way one likes.

If practical and theoretical wisdom do not take part in making a choice, then what is their application? Aristotle makes three assertion about these. Firstly, they are desirable in themselves because they are virtues of each of the parts of the soul, in particular the practical wisdom is deliberative and the theoretical wisdom is scientific. Secondly, the theoretical wisdom does have a function and that is the production of happiness in the sense that possessing theoretical wisdom makes one inevitably happy. Aristotle continues his analogy with medicine: "theoretical wisdom produces happiness, not as medicine produces health, but as health itself makes a person healthy" [p. 168]. Thirdly, practical wisdom, too, has a function and that is to determine the means for attaining a particular goal.

As much as practical and theoretical wisdom are important, intelligence and desire remain the active factors for making a choice. It is important to notice that both intelligence and desire are human characteristic. They vary from person to person, and are relative rather than universal. Aristotle does not pressure the individual to search for the Good somewhere beyond his reach and understanding, but urges one to look inside himself and look for one's own intelligence and desire, for one's own skills and capacities. It is the knowledge of ourselves that we first have to gain, the knowledge of how do our minds (souls) behave and what is our potential for cognition.

Plato looks at the world from the opposite point of view to Aristotle's. While Aristotle's concentration is to divide the human soul, Plato's strategy is to determine what is there to be known about the world by dividing it into categories. He creates a diagram on the four stages of cognition, called The Divided Line [p. 204], the four stages being 'source of perception', 'things perceived', 'modes of perception' and 'classes of perception'. Plato compares the objects elucidated by the sun and the ones clarified by the Good, drawing an exact parallel between them. A parallel can be drawn between Plato's and Aristotle's theories too. The modes of perception identified by Plato are Reason, in charge of the forms (reality, justice, beauty, truth, the material universe, and Understanding, responsible for mathematical objects and hypotheses. Reason highly resembles Aristotle's scientific faculty of the soul, while Understanding matches the deliberative one. The difference is that in Plato it is the Good that is the basis for reason and understanding, which basis is teh fundamental principles. In Aristotle this function is taken by intelligence. The good is external to the individual while intelligence is internal and this is what makes Aristotle more individualistic and humanistic than Plato who is looking for the truth outside humanity and beyond the individual's capacities.

Where does choice take place in Plato's philosophy? According to him knowledge equals virtue, that is, if one has knowledge one would inevitably choose just acts.

Plato accentuates on universal rules.