Abstract

After presenting a heuristic definition of conceptual and primordial knowing in the Introduction, the dissertation examines each of the ten philosophers to see what they contribute to an understanding of either kind of knowing, and what balance they strike between the two. The Conclusion offers a final definition of the two kinds of knowing, and consolidates the results of the historical investigation. The dissertation ends by proposing a new science of knowing. ;This work is timely because a vast shift in Western thought is taking place, from the conceptual to the primordial. In philosophy it is best seen in Polanyi's stress on tacit knowing; in popular culture, in the wave of Eastern cults and modes of thought. The project would at once ground this shift in Western thought, and guard against the overraction of a mindless irrationalism. ;Conceptual knowing deals with the universal and the necessary, the world of certainty and apodictic truth. Platonic essential definition and dialectical argument illustrate it, as well as Aristotle's definition of science, Aquinas' adaptation of what model to theology, and Descartes' preoccupation with clear ideas and an indubitable basis. ;Primordial knowing is particular, and resistant to precise formulation. The artist and the poet exemplify it. It is deeply personal knowing, religious knowing, experiential knowing. Plato's myths are an example, and Aristotelian and Thomistic intuition and wisdom. It appears later in Kantian and Hegelian esthetics, and Whiteheadian intuition. ;The dissertation surveys the history of Western philosophy to determine the balance preserved between conceptual and primordial knowing. Ten major thinkers are investigated: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Whitehead and Lonergan