return to list of latest ideas

Single Idea 20126

[catalogued under 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge]

Full Idea

The strength of knowledge does not depend on its degree of truth but on its age, on the degree to which it has been incoporated, in its character as a condition of life.

Gist of Idea

The strength of knowledge is not its truth, but its entrenchment in our culture

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (The Gay (Joyful) Science [1882], §110)

A Reaction

This seems to be the rather modern idea (in Foucault, perhaps) of knowledge as a central component of culture, rather than as an eternal revelation of facts. Note that he is talking about its 'strength', not its veracity or degree of support.

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Gay Science', ed/tr. Kaufmann,Walter [Vintage 1974], p.169