The Difference Between Knowledge and Belief

The Difference Between Knowledge and Belief Although sometimes the words 'know' and 'believe' are used

interchangeably, they are very different. A knower would say “I know”

if it has a higher probability of being more certain that “I believe”.

In this paper, I will explore the types of knowledge, gained through

reason, and how they differ with beliefs.

One’s beliefs can also be described as one’s personal ideas or faiths,

not distinguishable of right and wrong. Beliefs are not certain, and

it is not supported by sufficient evidence. In other words, it

contains the element of doubt, unlike knowledge. For example, when I

say that “I believe it will snow tomorrow”, it is not the same as it

will snow tomorrow, because it might. This becomes a very significant

difference, changing the entire tone of the statement and thus making

the statement appear weak and less trustworthy. Belief is a personal

instinct, based on each person’s individual emotions. Therefore, there

is no right or wrong in a personal belief. In the previous example, if

there were snow on the next day, the knower can be said to have a

strong instinct. It was just simply a presumption, not based on any

real evidence. However, if there were no snow, the statement could not

have been considered incorrect because it was not certain to begin

with and by adding “I believe” demonstrates the possibility that snow

would not fall. “I believe” shows one’s personal thoughts and one’s

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...t Socrates is a liar. This type of

knowledge described is factual prepositional knowledge; it is to know

that something is what it is. The two distinctive types of knowledge

are both based on the use of reason instead of personal emotion.

Certain people have very defined view in which they are emotionally

committed. They know that their personal view is the absolute truth,

thus view everything else with a closed mind. However, emotions bias

our perception, and the knower should keep an open mind for reasoned

arguments. However, there are always exceptions in which we should use

our mind to judge the morals to feel sympathetic, for example, and

therefore use emotion over reason. In order to make the most rational

decision, the knower should take into consideration the situation and

use a balance of reason and emotion.