Knowledge How
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Introductory epistemology usually distinguishes three kinds of knowledge: knowledge by acquaintance, such as knowing one's mother, friends, and pets; propositional knowledge, that something is so, such as knowing that Turin is in Italy; and a third kind allegedly distinct from both, knowing how to do something, such as knowing how to ride a bicycle.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Measure ability: judge mastery by whether the person can actually do it, not by whether she can recite the steps. - Plan teaching: recognize that skills are internalized through practice rather than by memorizing rules first. - Explain action: explain skilled behavior by appeal to ability without positing hidden propositions.
Anchor fast decisions
If knowing how to do something were only knowing a proposition, then putting it into action would require knowing another proposition to connect the knowledge with the act, and so on into a regress. Anti-intellectualists conclude that knowing how consists in having the corresponding ability or disposition rather than in grasping propositions, and that ability can guide action directly.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-how/verified
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