View source for Philosophy:Descriptive knowledge

{{Short description|Concept in epistemology}}
In [[Philosophy:Epistemology|epistemology]], '''descriptive knowledge''' (also known as '''propositional knowledge''', '''knowing-that''', '''declarative knowledge''',<ref name=:Burgin>{{Cite book|title=Theory of Knowledge: Structures and Processes|last=Burgin|first=Mark|publisher=World Scientific|year=2016|isbn=9789814522670|location=Kackensack, NJ|pages=48}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Analytic Philosophy of Medicine, 2nd edition|last=Sadegh-Zadeh|first=Kazem|publisher=Springer|year=2015|isbn=9789401795784|location=Dordrecht|pages=475}}</ref> or '''constative knowledge''')<ref>{{Cite book|title=The First-Person Point of View|last=Carl|first=Wolfgang|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2014|isbn=9783110362855|pages=147}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Habermas, Critical Theory and Education|last=Murphy|first=Mark|last2=Fleming|first2=Ted|publisher=Routledge|year=2010|isbn=9781135224301|pages=107}}</ref> is [[Philosophy:Knowledge|knowledge]] that can be expressed in a declarative sentence or an indicative [[Proposition|proposition]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Teaching|last=Tokuhama-Espinosa|first=Tracey|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2011|isbn=9780393706079|location=New York|pages=255}}</ref> "Knowing-that" can be contrasted with "knowing-how" (also known as "[[Procedural knowledge|procedural knowledge]]"), which is knowing how to perform some task, including knowing how to perform it skillfully.<ref name=:Burgin/> 

It can also be contrasted with "knowing of" (better known as "[[Knowledge by acquaintance|knowledge by acquaintance]]"), which is non-propositional knowledge of something which is constituted by familiarity with it or direct awareness of it. By definition, descriptive knowledge is knowledge of particular facts, as potentially expressed by our theories, concepts, principles, [[Philosophy:Schema (psychology)|schemas]], and ideas.<ref name=Cambridge_UP>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning|last=Holyoak|first=Keith|last2=Morrison|first2=Robert|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=0521824176|location=Cambridge|pages=371}}</ref> The descriptive knowledge that a person possesses constitute their understanding of the world and the way that it works.<ref name=Cambridge_UP />

The distinction between knowing-how and knowing-that was brought to prominence in [[Philosophy:Epistemology|epistemology]] by [[Biography:Gilbert Ryle|Gilbert Ryle]] who used it in his book ''[[Philosophy:The Concept of Mind|The Concept of Mind]]''.<ref>[[Biography:Jason Stanley|Jason Stanley]] and [[Biography:Timothy Williamson|Timothy Williamson]], "Knowing How", ''Journal of Philosophy'', '''98'''(8): 411–444, 2001.</ref> For Ryle, the former differs in its emphasis and purpose, since it is primarily practical knowledge, whereas the latter focuses on indicative or explanatory knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Knowledge-in-Practice in the Caring Professions: Multidisciplinary Perspectives|last=D'Cruz|first=Heather|last2=Jacobs|first2=Struan|last3=Schoo|first3=Adrian|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9780754672821|location=Abingdon|pages=19}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Philosophy:Explicit knowledge|Explicit knowledge]]
* ''Conversazione''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-acquaindescrip/ Knowledge by Acquaintance vs. Description]. Entry from the ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''.
*[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-how/ Knowledge How]. Entry from the ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''.

{{Epistemology}}
[[Category:Knowledge]]



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