To Understand Something You Need to Rely on Your Own Experience and Culture. Does This Mean That It Is Impossible to Have Objective Knowledge?

To understand something you need to rely on your own experience and culture. Does this mean that it is impossible to have objective knowledge? The possibility of objective knowledge is a universally argued issue. Are we always influenced by our experience and culture, or is the idea of objective knowledge possible? Before one can address this question however, one has to define the term objective knowledge. An often used and perhaps the most accepted definition of knowledge, is Plato’s definition. He defined the strongest knowledge as justified true belief (Lagemaat pp 24-25), which gives a basis for objective knowledge. The title explicitly states that one cannot understand something relying on ones own experience and culture. Culture and experience are definitely connected to personal feelings or opinions; your culture and experience shape your personal feelings and opinions. If our knowledge is always influenced by our personal feelings and opinions, how can it then be objective? This essay examines this question, with specific reference to language as a way of knowing, seeing how important it is to imporant to culture and experience. Correspondingly, I will evaluate the question in relation to mathematics and arts as areas of knowledge. The reason for me selecting these areas of knowledge is because they are counterparts. As areas of knowledge, they are opposite. Whether it is possible to have objective knowledge depends on which area of knowledge one looks at, and how influenced that area is by ones culture and experience. Language, a way of knowing which is important for acquiring our culture and experience, is one of our four ways of knowing. Language is a mean of communication, and hence it plays a crucial part in a person’s culture and experience. From the day we are born we are influenced by the culture we live in, through our family and others around us and their use of language; body language, spoken language and visual language. This constant influence...