Philosophical Assumptions: The foundation of theory
...ence. It seems obvious that the opportunity to learn without experience is essential or the skills and knowledge that keep our world turning would become extinct with time. I believe that knowledge can exist before experience and I am thankful that it does. Educational institutions, companies and families alike would go out of business if knowledge could not exist before experience. Students would stop going to class for fear that they would not be able to gain knowledge from a textbook. Employees would not change jobs for fear that they would not be able to function correctly in a new position without the experience. Families may stop having children for fear that they have not experienced raising a child and do not have the knowledge to take on such a task. Textbooks, peers, teachers, and parents are all a means to the knowledge we need to acquire to survive and thrive in life. While we may never experience everything in life, we are able to gain knowledge through each other’s experiences. This view is very valuable in that it gives people an incentive to go to school and learn from each other. I consider myself a relativist and believe that we can never take knowledge as absolute. Each day we sift through our ideas, views and experiences to find out what knowledge really exists in our minds and in our lives. Knowledge transforms and develops each day. Seeking fixed knowledge seems unpractical and close-minded in this day and age. I can also value the constructivist view in regards to the process by which knowledge comes about. Beauty (or knowledge) is very much in the eye of the beholder; knowledge is what the individual has made of the world they live in. People create knowledge in order to operate logically in our world. It is very true that individuals impel themselves into what they experience. While some individuals enjoy learning about a system as a whole, I would rather break a system up and figure out how each part of the system works on its own. In that respect I take the analysts view on how knowledge is best created. For example, when you break down the process of communication it is easier to see how each part works and in turn plays off another equally important part. This view is valuable because it makes complicated theories or models much less complex. At times one may understand a concept, bu...