Essay On Consensus And Consensus

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Being crucial for the progresses of humanity, knowledge has been widely discussed for centuries but has never been clearly defined. One of the most popular definitions by Plato states that knowledge is “a justified true belief” which means that the term knowledge is synonymous with robust knowledge. In light of this definition we can further assume that any knowledge which is tested by disagreement and emerges with consensus becomes robust. Basically I do agree with the claim that a robust knowledge requires both consensus and disagreement. However, depending on the particular areas of knowledge and its conception of the ultimate and universal truth, the role of consensus and disagreement in the process of knowledge acquisition can be perceived differently; either as a means to an end or an end in itself. I am going to illustrate my reservations on the examples of natural science and ethics. Natural science uses reason and sense perception as ways of knowing. A verified hypothesis becomes a theory and in even longer run turns into a law, which can be only dismissed once proven wrong by a scientific method. In ethics we …show more content…

It is all about disagreement which should consequently lead into consensus. The importance of disagreement in scientific research cannot be overestimated. Looking from a historical perspective we can list a number of hypothesis, theories or laws which were questioned and ultimately changed due to doubt or disagreement. Physics for example has dealt with a number of controversies, including: the cold fusion theory built upon a fake experiment and only proved wrong by inability to replicate it, or Newton’s Law of Gravity contested and eventually replaced after 300 years by Einstein in his Theory of General

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