Epistemology

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is Hermeneutics is derived Key Terms: Critical Thinking; Critical Analysis; Dialectic; Flow, Coherence, Unity; Given to New Order; Semiotics; Text & Intertextuality. Since antiquity, scholars interested in hermeneutics have asked fundamental questions of interpretation and understanding: Interpretation Understanding Hermeneutics as a Field The term hermeneutics may Hermeneutics as a Field of Study Initially, hermeneutics ...

Rhetoric concerns perception, interpretation, and communication

Rhetorical Knowledge

What is Rhetorical Analysis? Rhetorical knowledge is Key Words: Epistemology; Rhetoric; Rhetorical Analysis; Rhetorical Situation Why Does Rhetorical Knowledge Matter? In Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing, The Conference on College Composition — the major conference for researchers and teachers in writing studies — defines rhetorical knowledge as a foundational competency in college-level writing: ...

Knowledge

Knowledge refers to the understanding, awareness, and retention of information, concepts, and experiences acquired through perception, learning, and reasoning. Key Terms: Knowledge Claim; Scholarly Conversation As humans, we are driven to expand human knowledge. When people say they want to make a contribution to human knowledge, they probably mean they hope to develop an original ...

Empirical Knowledge – Empiricism

What is Empirical Knowledge? Empirical knowledge is information derived from sensory experience, observation, or experimentation. Unlike theoretical or innate knowledge, it is grounded in direct, observable evidence and practical experience. This type of knowledge is essential in research-based writing and fields like the natural sciences. What is Empiricism? Empiricism refers to a theory of knowledge ...

Tacit Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge is Related Concepts: Felt Sense; The Secret, Hidden Writing Process: How to Tap Your Creative Potential “I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell“ Michael Polanyi In The Tacit Dimension, Michael Polanyi (1966), theorized that we know much more than we can express. ...

Dialectic

Dialectic is the process of reasoned dialog and logical analysis. Argument is a form of dialect. Synonyms: Debate, Rational Discourse, Legal Analysis, Scholarship as a Conversation People engage in dialectics (spoken dialog or written dialog with others) Dialectics is sometimes referred to as the ceaseless debate–a recurring cycle of interpretation and reinterpretation. Legal discourse is built ...

Epistemology – Theories of Knowledge

Epistemology refers to a branch of philosophy that investigates the nature, origins, and limits of human knowledge. Epistemologists are concerned with the fundamental questions about the nature, origin, methods, and limits of human knowledge. They strive to understand how we know what we know and what it means to know something. Epistemologists ask fundamental questions ...

Scholarship – The Scholars – Textual Research Methods

What is Scholarship? The core of scholarship is the belief that knowledge is created through reading, writing, and debating interpretations of texts. Scholars focus on texts and dialectic—the process of reasoning correctly—to generate, test, and defend the knowledge they produce. Unlike scientists, engineers, or social scientists who look outward for evidence, scholars look inward, relying ...

Procedural Knowledge

Procedural/Tacit Knowledge (Knowing How)Procedural/Tacit Knowledge pertains to knowing how to do something, even if you cannot exactly explain how you do it. Sometimes you just know how to do something. Maybe it’s riding a bike, playing a musical instrument, driving a car, or speaking your native language. At some point, someone may have told you ...

Declarative Knowledge

Declarative Knowledge is explicit knowledge about facts, histories, ideas, topics, principles, and concepts. Declarative Knowledge is the sort of knowledge you learn from school or textbooks, encyclopedias, scholarly journals, and trade magazines. Declarative Knowledge involves knowing that something exists (definitional knowledge) or is true or false (propositional knowledge) Synonyms: Conceptual Knowledge; Definitional Knowledge; Explicit Knowledge; ...