DIRECT KNOWLEDGE: CHARACTERISTIC AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The direct knowledge, also understood as objective knowledge is that which is obtained by direct experimentation with an object or the environment surrounding the person.

The only way to have direct knowledge about something is through the personal experience that each human being has with what he wants to evaluate, so the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing) are fundamental to achieve such end.

Source: flickr.com

Direct knowledge, unlike other types of knowledge, does not require the presence of a third party to be acquired, but the person who wants to obtain an evaluation about something is enough to be able to find out about it.

characteristics

Direct knowledge

Also known as the theory of knowledge, it is a branch of philosophy whose main objective is the study of the characteristics, origin and limits that may exist for human knowledge.

As part of the study you carry out to understand knowledge itself, it establishes three main types of knowledge. Among these, the following stand out: propositional knowledge, practical knowledge and direct knowledge.

This last type, direct knowledge, is characterized by being that which is obtained from an object or entity that is present in a physical or palpable way.

For this quality it is also known as objective knowledge; however, some also call it simple knowledge or perpetual knowledge.

Knowledge by familiarity

Knowledge by familiarity is that which is obtained from an object to which you have access, including perceptions such as pain or heat.

Experience

The main characteristic of this type of knowledge is that it is acquired through experience, through experimentation with something physical or perceptible through the senses.

The direct nature of this type of knowledge implies that it requires only immediate interaction with the stimulus to be perceived.

Does not require third parties

Being knowledge that is obtained thanks to the direct experience of the person with the object or stimulus to be perceived, direct knowledge does not require the presence of another subject in order to be experienced.

Examples

Direct knowledge through sight

One way to experience direct knowledge is through the sense of sight, one of the most valuable to humans. It is through sight that the person can perceive the colors, the magnitude, the dimensions and even some of the textures of the objects that surround them.

One way to experience direct knowledge through sight is to watch the rain fall through a window. In this way, the meteorological phenomenon is directly known, due to the fact that the drops of water falling on the earth's surface are observed first-hand.

Another way to use sight to have a direct knowledge of things is through the observation of the size of a mountain.

Obtaining this information through another sense is much more complicated, so that the view can provide data that allow an estimate of the magnitude of the mountain.

Direct knowledge through the ear

Another way to experience direct knowledge is through the sense of hearing. Thanks to it, we can perceive stimuli that could escape sight, such as the horn of a vehicle on a nearby street that is not accessible or the sound of birds singing hidden among the trees.

An example of direct knowledge through the ear is knowing a song because its melody was heard directly, without intermediaries that could alter the audio in any way.

Direct knowledge through smell

In addition to sight and hearing, one of the senses that also allows for direct knowledge of the environment is smell.

Thanks to it, it is possible to obtain extra information that sight and hearing cannot provide, such as the perfume of a man or the scent of a flower.

An example of how smell can allow direct knowledge is through a sample of perfumes of a different nature.

If a perfume has a citrus tendency it will have a specific scent, while if it has a sweet tendency it will be completely different.

In this way, thanks to smell, you can directly know the difference between the two fragrances, which could not be known with the simple testimony of a third person.

Direct knowledge through taste

One way to experience direct knowledge is through the sense of taste, which allows people to make a distinction between flavors such as sweet, salty, sour, or bitter.

Taste is usually complemented by smell in order to have a better perception of the flavors of food or objects. An example of this is the perception that people may have about the taste of a strawberry.

For some the fruit may have a sour taste, while for others it may lean towards sweetness; the only way to establish a value judgment on its taste is thanks to direct knowledge through taste, that is, for the person to taste it on their own.

Direct knowledge through touch

In addition to sight, hearing, taste and smell, one of the senses that can provide the most information about objects in the environment is touch. Thanks to it, the human being can perceive if something is warm or cold, if a stimulus produces pain or tickles or the texture of things.

An example of how touch can allow direct knowledge of something is the perception of a cup of tea when it is removed from the microwave.

A person can calculate the approximate temperature of the drink by simply touching the cup and making a judgment about it; however, the only way to determine if it is really hot or cold is by touch.

Themes of interest

Types of knowledge.

Subjective knowledge.

Objective knowledge.

Vulgar knowledge.

Rational knowledge.

Technical knowledge.

Intuitive knowledge.

Intellectual knowledge.

Empirical knowledge.

References

1. Gnoseology, Wikipedia in Spanish (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
2. Direct knowledge is also known as simple knowledge, Portal Course Hero, (nd). Taken from coursehero.com
3. Types of knowledge, Portal Types of Online, (nd). Taken from typesde.online
4. Direct v. Indirect Knowledge, Portal Allzermalmer, (2011). Taken from allzermalmer.wordpress.com
5. Direct and Indirect Knowledge, Scribd Portal, (nd). Taken from es.scribd.com.