A principled and rigorous taxonomy for ways of knowing; listed in order of dependence.
| Description | Cognate | Memory | Imparts | Realizes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Propositional | Knowing that... | dianoia · διάνοια | Semantic | Beliefs | Truth |
| Procedural | Knowing how... | techne · τέχνη | Procedural | Skills and Techniques | Power |
| Perspectival | Knowing what it is like... | noesis · νόησις | Episodic | Perspectives | Presence |
| Participatory | Knowing by being with... | gnosis · γνῶσις | The Self | Affinities and Affordances | Belonging; Meaning in Life |
Relationship
Participatory knowing reveals the field of affordances. Perspectival knowing draws attention to which ones matter at the moment. That sense of salience guides your procedural knowing, helping you select the relevant skills needed. As you act, you enter into causal relationships with the world, which then shape your propositional knowing and the beliefs you form.
Propositional
- Related to the ancient Greek notion of dianoia.
- "Knowing that" something is true.
- Stored in semantic memory as knowledge of facts.
- Results in beliefs.
- Closely tied with language and justification.
- Our current culture is a kind of propositional tyranny (overly fixated on this type of knowing).
- Standard of realness: true or false; conviction; about honing logic to make accurate truth statements.
Procedural
- Related to the ancient Greek notion of techne.
- "Knowing how" to do something.
- Stored in procedural memory as embodied skill.
- Results in skills and techniques.
- Can be trained.
- Standard of realness: powerful or not; sense that interactions with the world are making a difference and altering the course of events.
Perspectival
- Related to the ancient Greek notion of noesis.
- "Knowing what it is like" to be here and now.
- Stored in episodic memory as contextual awareness.
- Results in perspectives.
- Knowing through your state of consciousness; a point of view; situational awareness; embodied perception.
- Standard of realness: presence; a sense of being "here and now"; truth as realization.
Participatory
- Related to the ancient Greek notion of gnosis.
- "Knowing by being with" Self and World.
- Stored in a strange kind of memory called The Self.
- Results in affinities and affordances.
- You and reality have been co-shaped to fit together. The Self participates in creating World, and the World participates in creating the Self (a transjective experience).
- Standard of realness: a sense of being connected and in a dialogue with reality; belonging; meaning in life.
Taxonomy first seen in Awakening from the Meaning Crisis by Dr. John Vervaeke. This site makes use of this taxonomy in how posts are categorized.