Knowledge & Opinion

There is a common opinion or belief that knowing requires knowledge and that I cannot know anything without having prior knowledge of it. Yet knowing something is not the same as having knowledge of something. To put it another way, there are two types of knowledge or two ways that knowledge is obtained:

1. A Priori Knowledge is knowledge that is possessed independently of physical sensory experience. This is knowledge that is intuitively attained independent of physical experience, I just know it to be true, and I absolutely know it to be certainly true intuitively. An intuitive sense of knowing allows knowledge to be learned independently of physical experience.

2. A Posteriori Knowledge is obtained from physical sensory experiences i.e. I have seen it, heard it, smelt it tasted it or touched it experientially. This knowledge is learned through intellectual reasoning based on physical intelligence. It is knowledge that can only be justified through personal physical experience.

In our modern system of education, only a posteriori knowledge is allowed as acceptable. Unless a piece of knowledge or intelligence can be empirically proven through the experience of our five physical senses, it is deemed academically inadmissible.

Once we have a clear distinction between two different kinds of knowledge, the philosophical question that arises is, which did Plato call knowledge and which did he deem to be an opinion?

Plato’s epistemology holds that knowledge of Platonic ideas is innate, so that learning is the development of intuitive & innovative ideas buried deep in the Soul. He deemed knowledge to be absolute & certain, whereas mere true opinion is relatively certain or uncertain.

From Plato’s perspective, true opinion is based on a personal belief in what is true from the perspective of the physical world. True opinion is the personal perspective of the ego whereas, knowledge is an innate wisdom of the Soul.

Modern Philosophers, who are unawakened to Plato’s perspective of an absolute Soul reality, see a relative distinction between physical knowledge that is a systematic account from personal experience in contrast to their opinion that is based on knowledge that can be proved by others to be either right or wrong. Neither of which is absolutely the truth from the perspective of the Soul but are both a relative truth based on the belief & experience of a personal sense of ego Self.

N.B. The above distinctions are my personal opinion as confirmed by the intuitive certain knowing of my Soul’s innately knowledgeable wisdom.

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