Oscar Pistorius Court Case Study

1. “In gaining knowledge, each area of knowledge uses a network of ways of knowing.” Discuss this state with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Many people claim that they learn new things every day. This means that they gain knowledge daily. They never really seem to take into consideration the nature of ways of knowing that are involved, whether they form a network or not. Knowledge refers to the general information that can be interpreted and stored in the human brain. Knowledge is obtained through different ways of knowing namely emotions, reason, language, etc. The essay is set out to show whether these ways of knowing need to be used together in the process of acquiring knowledge. This question can be answered by arguing areas of knowledge

In most instance where historical knowledge is to be obtain from second source, network of ways of knowing are involved. Oscar Pistorius court case is the good example of a historical event. Oscar Pistorius is a South African athletic who was accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, at his home in Pretoria on February 2013 (BBC NEWS). Memory can help us gain knowledge of history. Eyewitnesses of the certain incident have knowledge of what happened by simply recalling and this is due to memory. For the court to gain knowledge of the event that took place on the night of murder, Oscar was given a stand in court to defend himself so he gave an account of the events that took place on the night when Reeva was murdered. If whatever he said in court during his testimony was true then he was able to do that through the help of his

We use language to comprehend things such as books and stories which talks about the past. For example, language was the means of communication between Oscar and the court so that everyone in court gains knowledge of the events that took place at Oscar’s home on the night of murder. Basically, sense perception plays a major role in the process of gaining historical knowledge. The knowers of history know that they know if that knowledge was perceived by their senses. For example, I know that my mother cooked beef yesterday because I smelled it or better yet I saw it with my own eyes. By the aid of my nose and my eyes, I was able to tell what my mother cooked yesterday. The use of many different ways of knowing at once minimise the doubt of someone who is receiving knowledge. If all the ways of knowing were involved in the process of gaining historical knowledge then one would believe easily and faster. The courts of law include many ways of knowing so that they can gain a more accurate knowledge of the cases. Therefore a valid historical knowledge can be received by linking many ways of knowing like language, memory, reason and sense perception.

However, one may oppose by saying that the knower of history does not need two or more ways of knowing have to network together because one is enough. This normally occurs when the primary source is used. For example, everyone in his or her good mind set is