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The Tacit Dimension

Michael Polanyi

Tacit knowledge

It is the concise statement of Polanyi's theory of tacit knowing, influential across philosophy of science and theories of expertise and freedom.

Synopsis

An epistemology arguing that we know more than we can tell, and that all knowledge rests on an unspoken, personal tacit foundation.

Core passage idea

Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted work

We know more than we can tell, because all explicit knowledge depends on a tacit background of skills and judgments we cannot fully put into words.

It challenges the ideal of fully explicit, impersonal knowledge by showing that even science relies on unarticulated personal understanding.

To avoid a bubble

Pair with Michael Oakeshott, Rationalism in Politics.

Reading note

Read it as a short, dense lecture series; the concept of tacit knowing carries political weight against centralized planning and rationalism.

Best paired with

Michael Oakeshott, Rationalism in Politics

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