Agreement: The First Way of Knowing

The role of Agreement as one of the first and classic ways of knowing is examined in this chapter. It critiques one of the major philosophical bases on which professional education rests, the philosophy of empiricism. Of all the means that humans have invented to learn about and control their world, none has been more persistent or more powerful than the notion that for something to count as knowledge, it must be based on facts or observations. The tale of the Delphi is critically examined in this chapter. The authors demonstrate how it is a simple but a very powerful and clear example of a...

The role of Agreement as one of the first and classic ways of knowing is examined in this chapter. It critiques one of the major philosophical bases on which professional education rests, the philosophy of empiricism. Of all the means that humans have invented to learn about and control their world, none has been more persistent or more powerful than the notion that for something to count as knowledge, it must be based on facts or observations. The tale of the Delphi is critically examined in this chapter. The authors demonstrate how it is a simple but a very powerful and clear example of a particular kind of knowledge or Inquiry System. Also, the Asch effect is presented as a counterargument to the notion of empiricism.