Knowledge: Its Creation, Distribution and Economic Significance, Volume I: Knowledge and Knowledge Production

298 Pages·2016·21.295 MB·English

by  Fritz Machlup

KNOWLEDGE:
ITS CREATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND
ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
VOLUME I
KNOWLEDGE
AND KNOWLEDGE
PRODUCTION

KNOWLEDGE:
ITS CREATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND
ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
VOLUME I
KNOWLEDGE
AND KNOWLEDGE
PRODUCTION
BY FRITZ MACHLUP
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1980 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be
found on the last printed page of this book
This book has been composed in VIP Melior
Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books
are printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials are
chosen for strength and durability
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton
University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Designed by Laury A. Egan
CONTENTS
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS VLL
PREFACE xiii
THE STORY OF THIS WORK XV
1 Introduction 3
PART ONE: TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
2 The Known and the Knowing 27
3 Mundane, Scientific, Humanistic, Artistic,
and Other Classes of Knowledge 59
4 Alternative Classifications of Knowledge 101
PART Two: QUALITIES OF KNOWLEDGE
5 Truth, Beauty, and Goodness 113
6 Other Standards of Quality 125
7 Notions of Negative Knowledge 144
PART THREE: KNOWLEDGE AS A PRODUCT
8 Choosers and Users of Knowledge 155
9 Stocks and Flows of Knowledge 161
10 The Economic Cost of Knowledge 178
11 Transmission and Reception 186
12 Consumption, Investment, Intermediate Product 193
13 Uses, Value, and Benefits of Knowledge 202
14 Knowledge Industries and Knowledge Occupations 225
LIST OF PAGES WITH LINES OF TEXT RETAINED
FROM THE 1962 VOLUME 242
INDEX 245

ANALYTICAL TABLE
OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 3
THE ECONOMIST AS A STUDENT OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION 3
Knowledge as a Datum in Economic Analysis 3
Knowledge as a Product, a Function of
Resource Allocation 5
TERMINOLOGICAL PROPOSALS 7
"Production and Distribution" 7
"Knowledge and Information" 8
THE PROGRAM FOR THIS WORK 9
Some of the Reasons for Our Curiosity 9
In Quest of Light or Fruit? 11
A Preview of the Eight Volumes 13
A Preview of Volume ι 17
Scope of the Expanding Work 20
TWO CHARGES AND APOLOGIES 20
Going Too Far Afield 21
Valuing the Invaluable 23
PART ONE: TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
2 THE KNOWN AND THE KNOWING 27
THE DOUBLE MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE 27
MEANINGS OF KNOWING 29
Knowledge-Of and Knowledge-About 29
ToKnowThatversustoKnowHow 30
To Know What, to Know That, and to Know How 33
The Special Status of Knowing That 36
An Assortment of Knowns and Knowings 38
Arrangement by Interrogative Pronoun 41
Further Comments on Knowing That and Knowing How 44
ELEMENTS AND MODES OF KNOWING 46
The Examples Surveyed for Different Modes of Knowing 46
The Elements of Knowing 47
Modes as Combinations of Elements 52
viii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEGREES OF KNOWING 52
Elements, Modes, and Degrees 53
More Details, More Accuracy, More Confidence 55
INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE 56
ToKnowandtoInform 56
Enduring Knowledge and Timely Information 57
3 MUNDANE, SCIENTIFIC, HUMANISTIC, ARTISTIC,
AND OTHER CLASSES OF KNOWLEDGE 59
MUNDANE KNOWLEDGE 59
Persuasive Definitions 59
Mundane Knowledge, Intentional Learning, and Erudition 60
The Proportions among Types of Knowledge 61
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 62
Science Excluding Empirical Knowledge 62
Admitting Empirical Sciences 64
Expelling All but the Natural Sciences 65
Science in Other Languages 67
A Definition Reflecting a Polyglot Consensus 68
HUMANISTIC KNOWLEDGE 70
Traditional Meanings 71
The Humanists' Identity Crisis 73
Legal and Institutional Definitions 74
The Antiscientistic Humanist 75
The Two Cultures 79
The Characteristics of the Humanities 81
SOCIAL-SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE 84
Historical Development 85
Methodological Controversies 85
An Academic Subject Group 87
The Sense of It All 89
ARTISTIC KNOWLEDGE 90
Liberal, Professional, Mechanical, and Fine Arts 90
Performance versus Precepts for Performance 91
Creation and Communication 92
KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT WORDS 92
Verbal and Nonverbal Arts 93
Visual Arts 94
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
Performing Arts 94
Mundane Experiences 96
Knowing a Tune and Knowing a Feeling 98
Knowledge as a Mere Euphemism 100
4 ALTERNATIVE CLASSIFICATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE ΙΟΊ
VARIOUS ASPECTS AND DISTINCTIONS 101
Basic and Applied Knowledge 101
Theoretical and Historical; General-Abstract and
Particular-Concrete; Analytical and Empirical 102
Knowledge of Enduring and of Transitory Interest 103
Knowledge for Many and Knowledge for Only a Few 105
Instrumental, Intellectual, and Spiritual Knowledge 106
THE CHOSEN CLASSES 107
Five Classes of Knowledge 108
Subjective Sorting and Operational Criteria 108
PART Two: QUALITIES OF KNOWLEDGE
5 TRUTH, BEAUTY, AND GOODNESS 113
KNOWLEDGE VERSUS BELIEF 113
KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH 114
Facts and Propositions 115
Verifiability, Confirmability, Falsifiability 115
Relevance for the Purposes of this Study 117
The Wrong Fifty Per Cent 118
Pastime and Artistic Knowledge 118
Practical Knowledge Had Better Be True 119
KNOWLEDGE AND BEAUTY 120
TheObjectandtheForm 120
Performing Arts 121
Beautiful Theories, Beautiful Exposition 121
KNOWLEDGE AND GOODNESS 122
Ethics 122
Normative and Empirical Statements 123
Moral Education 123
A Special Class of Knowledge? 124