In Response to Jonathon Rauch’s "The Constitution of Knowledge" (eBook)

Essay from the year 2021 in the subject Philosophy - Theoretical (Realisation, Science, Logic, Language), grade: 100, Fort Hays State University, course: Origins and Implications of Knowledge, language: English, abstract: The seeds of a critical understanding of reality were planted in the age of the Enlightenment, where Western societies developed mechanisms to identify the truth, not the least of which was the scientific method. What has developed since these initial revelations is what Jonathon Rauch calls the “Constitution of Knowledge.” The foundational pillar of this process of knowledge is freedom of speech, which allows anyone and everyone to state a hypothesis. Experts in the field of inquiry then evaluate this hypothesis’s validity and society as a whole accepts the knowledge derived from this method as accurate, or at least plausible until a better argument can be made on the matter. This ensures that there is no central intellectual arbiter. Authority is ceded to a wide network of the various institutions, professional and educational bodies and peer-reviewed journals that continue to add to the understanding of reality. In this system, only the most persuasive of theories will prevail in what is termed “the marketplace of ideas.” The Constitution of Knowledge is inextricably linked to the United States Constitution, in that it is the survival of the former that ensures the survival of the latter. The Constitution of Knowledge is the founding doctrine which safeguards the pursuit of truth. A well-informed public is the only defense against tyranny and chaos.