History of knowledge facts for kids
The history of knowledge is a field of study that looks at how humans have gathered, understood, and shared information throughout time. It explores how knowledge has changed, what people focused on, and how it was passed down and used in different societies.
This field is similar to, but also different from, the history of science or philosophy. It covers all sorts of human knowledge, like logic, philosophy, mathematics, science, sociology, psychology, and even how we use data mining today.
The history of knowledge became an official academic subject around the 2000s. This happened partly because of the rise of the digital age. Experts in this field study how knowledge is created, spread, and used, looking at both complex academic ideas and everyday practical knowledge. They often use ideas from thinkers like Michel Foucault to understand how knowledge is organized and influenced by society, culture, and politics.
The roots of this field go back to the 1950s, when people started studying the history of science. Some ideas even appear in writings from the 15th century. The topics studied in the history of knowledge are always changing, from old religious knowledge to the impact of the digital revolution. Concepts like "scientification" help explain how simple information turns into organized knowledge. Peter Burke, a famous historian, describes this as "raw" information becoming "cooked" knowledge. He is one of the important writers in this field, along with Martin Mulsow, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault.
Contents
How the Field Started
Historians like Peter Burke have traced the beginnings of the history of knowledge. In his book "What is the History of Knowledge?", he points to the 15th century work "Advancement of Learning" by Francis Bacon. Bacon wrote about how knowledge moves from one person or place to another, a concept called "circulation." This idea of "circulation" has been used in history studies since the 2000s.
In the 19th century, scholars became interested in studying how knowledge developed over time. This was similar to how the history of natural sciences began around the same period. Auguste Comte, a philosopher, was one of the first to try to bring this study into universities. This shows how academics were becoming more interested in the history of knowledge. Later, in the 1960s, ideas from Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu became important. Foucault studied where knowledge is created, and Bourdieu looked at how knowledge is connected to specific situations, as seen in his book Homo Academicus.
The history of knowledge grew out of the history of science. In the early 1900s, George Sarton suggested a new way to study scientific progress. He believed that the humanities (like literature and philosophy) could help us understand science better. By the 1950s and 60s, the history of science was a recognized subject in universities in America and Europe.
Later, the focus shifted in Germany to Wissenschaftsgeschichte, which means the history of academic knowledge. This included the humanities and social sciences. Then, in the 2000s, the movement towards Wissensgeschichte (the history of knowledge) began. After this new field was established, there were discussions about whether the history of science should become part of the history of knowledge.
The importance of the history of knowledge grew as people talked about the "knowledge society." This idea suggests that knowledge is very important in modern society, leading to a need for "knowledge management" since the 1960s. The field also became relevant with the study of the digital revolution. This revolution is seen as one of many "knowledge revolutions" throughout history. It made people wonder how knowledge was shared and created in the past.
Peter Burke notes that the field grew because research became more global. Independent studies in the 1990s, like "Fields of Knowledge" (1992) and "Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge" (1996), helped this growth. After that, the history of knowledge became an official subject in universities in Germany (like in Erfurt and Kiel) in the 2000s.
What the Field Studies
The history of knowledge covers a very wide range of topics. However, experts don't always agree on exactly what it should include. Some areas that have been studied are:
- Knowledge in non-Western cultures.
- Knowledge held by elite groups.
- Knowledge used in everyday life.
- Implicit knowledge (things we know but can't easily explain).
- Religious, social, political, or cultural knowledge.
Topics can be very diverse. For example, they might study old medical recipes written by women, reasons for crop failures in the 18th century, or the history of American "wisdom" like pop psychology.
The idea of "knowledge" is central to this field. However, scholars in Wissensgeschichte sometimes have different definitions. Many agree that knowledge is "what was accepted as knowledge in the past." But Lorraine Daston, another important scholar, thinks this definition is too broad. She argues for a more specific definition, like "systemized knowing." Daston also says that there isn't just one single definition of knowledge.
The definitions of knowledge used in this field can vary. Researchers often borrow ideas from other areas, like epistemology (the study of knowledge itself), to help define it. However, some argue that using only philosophical definitions might ignore practical knowledge. What is considered "worth knowing" or "accepted as knowledge" depends on the "place, time, and social group." Also, the meaning of "knowledge" can be different in various languages. For example, in Latin, scientia means "knowing that," while ars means "knowing how." This makes it harder for scholars to define knowledge or the field itself.
The history of knowledge often overlaps with many other academic subjects. Researchers from philosophy, literary history, and especially social history contribute to Geschichte des Wissens. In geography, for instance, there's an overlap when studying how scientific knowledge is produced in different places. Lorraine Daston's definition includes religious knowledge because religious beliefs can also be organized and systematic.
In the history of knowledge, the idea that knowledge and history should be seen in many forms comes from Michel Foucault. He suggested that there are many ways of "knowing." This idea also comes from anthropology, which talks about "cultures of knowledge." This means there are many types of knowledge, both abstract (like ideas) and concrete (like skills). This is different from the 19th-century belief that history was a single story. That old view was challenged in the 20th century. Some scholars even wonder if the history of knowledge can replace concepts like "social history" and "cultural history." For example, Peter Burke sometimes uses "knowledge" in a way that is similar to how others use "culture."
Key Ideas and Approaches
The history of knowledge uses various theories and ideas to understand the past. These help researchers uncover small details and connect them to bigger pictures. For example, concepts like "political," "social," and "cultural" are very important in this field. Historians can study the field by looking at the content of knowledge itself or by focusing on the context in which knowledge existed.
Scientification is a key idea. It describes how raw information becomes organized and systematic knowledge. This involves practices like observation becoming more structured and disciplined. This idea is similar to Peter Burke's view of knowledge as "cooked" information, transformed from "raw" data. Methods like objectivity, demonstration, understanding error, and the role of belief are also used. These come from traditional science and are applied to historical research. However, it's important to remember that the modern definition of science only emerged in the 19th century. Applying these ideas to knowledge practices before then can sometimes be misleading.
Michel Foucault's idea of "orders of knowledge" suggests that knowledge is organized differently depending on the time or place. When a culture's values mix with its knowledge practices, they form a "regime." This system, like a university, is shaped by interactions and values. Foucault believed that a "regime of truth" exists within every society. Historians look at a specific time in history and ask how people understood their world. They examine what knowledge influenced their interpretations and how those understandings affected the "orders of knowledge." Some researchers in this field work at the Geschichte Des Wissens at the University of Zurich. Their work, like that of co-founder Philip Sarasin, often reflects Foucault's ideas.
Studying knowledge isn't just about understanding academic ideas. It also includes practical, social, and everyday knowledge. Researchers look at these areas to understand social and political structures. This also helps them go beyond just scientific or intellectual forms of knowledge. They study often-ignored everyday knowledge, like the skills of an artisan. This research shows how knowledge is used in social, political, and economic situations. Additionally, social and cultural approaches study the conditions and institutions where knowledge is found. Both focus on outside influences rather than just knowledge itself. These social and cultural aspects are linked to the Wissensoziologie (sociology of knowledge) method. Karl Mannheim developed this in 1920s Germany. He also created the idea of "Sein-sgebundenheit," which means knowledge is connected to society. It suggests that a person's beliefs and thoughts are shaped by their social class.
Benefits and Challenges
The history of knowledge has sometimes been called "unusual," but it has steadily grown as a historical field. Scholars have helped it grow while also showing its strengths and weaknesses.
One challenge is that the subject matter of the history of knowledge is not always clearly defined. Critics say the field's scope is too vague. This is partly because the experts working in this field come from many different specializations. However, drawing knowledge from other subjects is also seen as a benefit. It encourages different scholars to work together. Simone Lassig also believes that the field's broad view is better for studying forgotten knowledge from the past. It also reminds historians that history is always open to new interpretations.
Some worry that fields like the history of science might be taken over by the history of knowledge. The history of science has faced criticism for being "Eurocentric." This means it often focuses on Europe as the main source of scientific ideas. Arguments for choosing the history of knowledge suggest it's better because it doesn't rely as much on a "Western" view. However, some argue that the history of knowledge is just a "simple rethinking" of the history of science and intellectual history. They say it often studies topics that these other fields have already covered.
Another challenge is that the field sometimes focuses too much on knowledge itself. This can leave out the study of how knowledge is produced by individuals and in small, everyday situations. For example, people with certain beliefs might see those beliefs as knowledge. But the field might not investigate the people who created new ideas and discoveries, including their goals and beliefs. Some argue that focusing only on past knowledge risks ignoring what was not known. It also leaves out the human side of knowledge creation. Even though the field studies "low" knowledge (everyday knowledge), knowledge of non-elite people was often not recognized as "knowledge" in the past. Also, the definition that scholars use—that knowledge is "what has been accepted as knowledge"—can limit this approach.
The history of knowledge does look at forms of knowledge outside of Western cultures. However, Michel Foucault's concept of "orders of knowledge," which is central to the field, has been criticized by Peter Burke for being too uniform. He argues that the theory doesn't recognize how knowledge and information travel across different geographical areas. On the other hand, Philipp Sarasin believes that Foucault's theory, as used in the history of knowledge, encourages a post-colonial perspective. This means it helps us understand how knowledge has been shaped by colonialism and power differences.
See also
- A History of Knowledge
- Recorded history
- Knowledge transfer
- Knowledge management
- Knowledge Revolution
Images for kids
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Graph of knowledge. Smithsonian American Art Museum.
