more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 12364

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding ]

Full Idea

We understand something simpliciter when we think we know of the explanation because of which the object holds that it is its explanation, and also that it is not possible for it to be otherwise.

Gist of Idea

We understand a thing when we know its explanation and its necessity

Source

Aristotle (Posterior Analytics [c.327 BCE], 71b10)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Posterior Analytics (2nd ed)', ed/tr. Barnes,Jonathan [OUP 1993], p.2

A Reaction

The second half sounds odd, since we ought to understand that something could have been otherwise, and knowing whether or not it could have been otherwise is part of the understanding. It sounds like Spinozan determinism.

The 43 ideas with the same theme [knowledge of sources, causes and explanations]:

16126 Expertise is knowledge of the whole by means of the parts [Plato]
22513 Knowing is having knowledge; understanding is using knowledge [Aristotle]
22587 Understanding is the aim of our nature [Aristotle]
12364 We understand a thing when we know its explanation and its necessity [Aristotle]
12366 We only understand something when we know its explanation [Aristotle]
12370 Some understanding, of immediate items, is indemonstrable [Aristotle]
23308 Reasoning relates to understanding as time does to eternity [Boethius, by Sorabji]
22170 Senses grasp external properties, but the understanding grasps the essential natures of things [Aquinas]
17211 Understanding is the sole aim of reason, and the only profit for the mind [Spinoza]
12960 We understand things when they are distinct, and we can derive necessities from them [Leibniz]
12998 Understanding grasps the agreements and disagreements of ideas [Leibniz]
19332 For Leibniz, divine understanding grasps every conceivable possibility [Leibniz, by Perkins]
15627 Kant showed that the understanding (unlike reason) concerns what is finite and conditioned [Kant, by Hegel]
16898 Understanding essentially involves singular elements [Kant, by Burge]
5573 Reason is distinct from understanding, and is the faculty of rules or principles [Kant]
4190 All understanding is an immediate apprehension of the causal relation [Schopenhauer]
19089 Our whole conception of an object is its possible practical consequences [Peirce]
24150 We can only understand through concepts, which subsume particulars in generalities [Nietzsche]
17623 To understand a thought you must understand its logical structure [Frege, by Burge]
16885 To understand a thought, understand its inferential connections to other thoughts [Frege, by Burge]
15578 Propositions don't provide understanding, because the understanding must come first [Heidegger, by Polt]
18712 Understanding is translation, into action or into other symbols [Wittgenstein]
13047 It is knowing 'why' that gives scientific understanding, not knowing 'that' [Salmon]
13065 Understanding is an extremely vague concept [Salmon]
17944 'Episteme' is better translated as 'understanding' than as 'knowledge' [Nehamas]
16814 Understanding is not mysterious - it is just more knowledge, of causes [Lipton]
9325 In contrast with knowledge, the notion of understanding emphasizes practical engagement [Gulick]
20188 Modern epistemology is too atomistic, and neglects understanding [Zagzebski]
20223 Epistemology is excessively atomic, by focusing on justification instead of understanding [Zagzebski]
18810 Aristotle's proofs give understanding, so it can't be otherwise, so consequence is necessary [Smiley, by Rumfitt]
16562 We understand something by presenting its low-level entities and activities [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
15707 There is intentional, mechanical, teleological, essentialist, vitalist and deontological understanding [Gelman]
19542 It is nonsense that understanding does not involve knowledge; to understand, you must know [Dougherty/Rysiew]
19543 To grasp understanding, we should be more explicit about what needs to be known [Dougherty/Rysiew]
19261 Understanding is seeing coherent relationships in the relevant information [Kvanvig]
14365 Scientific understanding is always the grasping of a correct explanation [Strevens]
14368 We may 'understand that' the cat is on the mat, but not at all 'understand why' it is there [Strevens]
14369 Understanding is a precondition, comes in degrees, is active, and holistic - unlike explanation [Strevens]
19690 'Grasping' a structure seems to be modal, because we must anticipate its behaviour [Grimm]
19692 You may have 'weak' understanding, if by luck you can answer a set of 'why questions' [Grimm]
19691 Unlike knowledge, you can achieve understanding through luck [Grimm]
18831 Medieval logicians said understanding A also involved understanding not-A [Rumfitt]
19265 Can you possess objective understanding without realising it? [Vaidya]