Ways of Knowing
Truth, beauty and goodness, sometimes called the transcendental properties of being, are our most basic ways of experiencing and analyzing life. Commonly experienced by all, these three basic concepts can not be traced back to preceding ideas. These three lenses of human experience are consistently repeated throughout history and across cultures, confirming something of a basic, shared human way of knowing.
Three Basic Lenses
Let’s say I’m getting ready to take a walk and need to know if it’s puffy-coat-cold, or if a hoodie will do the trick. I pop open the weather app on my phone and see that the temperature reads 33F. I can depend on the objective measure of the air temperature outdoors and the reliability of my iPhone app to make my decision. This is the realm of the TRUE and the logical.
As I navigate my neighborhood, I am careful to keep to the sidewalks and cross the street where there are designated crossings. I adhere to the rules of the road, agreed upon by motorists and pedestrians alike. This is the arena of the GOOD and the ethical.
As I near the end of this chilly morning walk, the sun is beginning to rise and alights brilliantly purple, red and orange hues, against a velvety indigo sky. I soak in the splendid show, slowing to appreciate this glorious array of color. This captures the terrain of the BEAUTIFUL and aesthetic.
Each way of encountering my walk, scientific, collective and subjective, affords me a different lens with which to make decisions and judgments about the experience. Whether I’m aware of it or not, I use all three of these lenses in conjunction with all my experiences.
Validity Claims
Each way of knowing has its own way of claiming validity. If something is “true” we know that everyone comes to the same conclusion because “truth” is measurable and observable, meaning everyone gets the same answer. The physical world is filled with things that can be observed by different people, and which don’t change based on the observer.
If something is “ethical” we know that a group of people has agreed upon a set of Dos and Don’ts. Anyone who does not adhere will experience some degree of tension within that group, or may even be punished by or ejected from the group. Shared agreements are collectively subjective, vary according to the group and range in severity.
If something is “truthful” we know that a person is reporting their personal experience, to the best of their knowledge and extent of their perspective. For this reason, individual knowing, judgments and opinions are subjective. We run into trouble here when a person is not able to distinguish between a subjective or an objective position.
Cultures Agree
This pattern of the three ways of knowing shows up across wisdom traditions and philosophies alike. Christianity has the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Buddhism has the Buddha, Sangha and Dharma. The Enneagram has Heart, Head and Gut types. Integral Theory has I, We and It/Its.
Ways of knowing can be seen as art, religion and science; self, culture and nature; or aesthetics, ethics and logic. We know it in written points of view—first-person (I), second-person (you) and third-person (he/she/they/it).