Without Application In The Real World: The Value Of Knowledge

I agree with the statement “Without application in the world the value of knowledge is greatly diminished” to a fair extent. The supports for my view are based around the natural science and ethics, both of these are less useful when they cannot be applied, therefore the value of the knowledge is greatly diminished. Application in the real world may be the difference between a working model that saves lives and, a hypothesis. Applying knowledge is what creates the value of the knowledge, without application being possible the idea loses a considerable amount of value. Application means that the knower can use the knowledge in the real world, for example a biologist using his previous knowledge to write a new theory on a similar topic. This …show more content…
This change in the value of the knowledge is due to the fact that the knowledge that the knower strives for becomes more specialized the higher the level of education. If it cannot be applied in the real world it may not be sought after. A counterclaim to the argument that knowledge that cannot be applied in the real world has less value would be the question: “Just because one person may not find as much value in the knowledge that they personally cannot apply, does it lose knowledge for everyone?” The answer to the question seems to be no. English teachers will apply their knowledge of poetry structures and it would have value for them because, the English teacher will teach poetry and apply that knowledge through teaching, even if it isn’t knowledge that others would find valuable later in life. The knowledge itself doesn 't lose value if some people cannot apply it personally. Applying knowledge personally means that the knower will use it in every-day life. If the knowledge is more technical then it may be harder to apply, science knowledge or mathematical knowledge for example. Even though a certain idea may not be applicable right now it may be …show more content…
In ethics, applying knowledge means using ethical theories to work through a real life situation. Khant ethics, for example has groundings in the idea that actions themselves are ethical or unethical. Driving while drunk violates the deontological theory of not harming others. By driving while drunk you not only put yourself at risk of injury but, other people as well. According to Khant ethics the consequences of the actions do not matter. If the drunk driver gets home safe or, not makes no difference because the original action was wrong to begin with. Another ethical theory is consequentialism, which only takes the final consequences into consideration. Going back to the drunk driver example, a drunk who makes it home has not harmed another therefore has not done anything wrong according to consequentialism. These two ethical theories can be applied in every-day life and in almost any situation. This application is vital for ethical theories (6). Without application the ethical theories would be worth much less. They would change from being a moral compass into a thought experiment, severely reducing the value of the theories. The two ethical theories though very different are both ways to understand the world and, ways to gain knowledge and understanding. Ethical theories are more important for acquiring knowledge when applied