The Way We Know - Application

The context here is a discussion of where knowledge is put to work. It may have become clear from reading other sections of this web site that a person could know something without being able to do the thing. I may have read everything that has been written about brain surgery, I may have studied the brain and mind and I may be the worlds leading authority in this. However, I may never have carried out any surgery of any kind and may simply not be able to do it. This may not stop a top brain surgeon from asking me questions about a specific case and it may not mean that I cannot answer the questions to the surgeon’s satisfaction. It simply means that I can know a great deal but still not be able to do the thing that I know about.

Yet it is not quite this straightforward. I am forgetting about the knowledge needed to be a surgeon. There will be a great deal of knowledge associated with the activities, the practical work that a surgeon does, that is needed in order to carry out surgery of any sort. That is, the brain surgeon does not simply have to know the more theoretical knowledge associated with the brain but must have additional knowledge that he or she can use to carry out the surgery. A good brain surgeon must have both these components of knowledge and probably quite a few others as well. The actions of the surgeon require knowledge of application rather than (or as well as) knowledge of contemplation.