[Air-l] information / knowledge - I

[Charles Ess]

It may be too far off the beaten path for folk in informatics, etc. - but
the distinctions between information and knowledge are also discussed within
the humanities and philosophy.

The following is a condensation of the discussion we had on HUMANIST about
all of this last February.
It would be interesting to know if these observations parallel the ones made
in the extensive literature this list has built up?

So... begin with T.S. Eliot, Choruses from the Rock (sometime in the early
1930s, I think)

The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.
O perpetual revolution of configured stars,
O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,
O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying!
The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

At the risk of violating all sorts of copyright laws - a sketchy document is
available at
http://www.drury.edu/ess/notesondreyfus.html

Here I do not, unfortunately, make explicit the links between Dreyfus'
taxonomy and Eliot's poem.  But most of the document is devoted to
clarifying for my students what Kierkegaard and Dreyfus mean vis-à-vis
knowledge gained through the web and the Net; I then hope that my students
will be able to see the implict connections between Kierkegaard and Dreyfus
on the one hand, and Eliot on the other.

As I hope these notes help clarify - by all means, by drawing on
Kierkegaard's taxonomy of knowledge (aesthetic / ethical / religious),
Dreyfus' taxonomy indeed heads us in the direction of the metaphysical,
though not necessarily religious.
Briefly, the religious stage of human wisdom and existence for Kierkegaard
involves a level of commitment and risk not found in the aesthetic and
ethical stages.  As Dreyfus puts it, our most important commitments

Šare neither the ones that I arbitrarily choose nor the ones that I am
obliged to keep because of my social role. Rather, these special commitments
are experienced as grabbing my whole being. When I respond to such a summons
by making an unconditional commitment, this commitment determines who I am
and what will be the significant issue for me for the rest of my life.
Political and religious movements can grab us in this way as can love
relationships and, for certain people, such vocations as the law or music.
(19)

In my view, this indeed helps to inform discussions concerning what sorts of
knowledge - and correlative existential / religious engagements and wisdom -
may be needed for full and humane lives.

[In order to keep all of this relatively brief and easy to delete, I'll
parse out some additional resources and comments into another email or two.]

Hope this helps,

Charles Ess
 
Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave.              Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO  65802  USA       FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page:  http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html

Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org

Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php

Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23