| This Dissertation is an analysis of Michael Polanyi's (1891-1976) epistemology of 'personal knowledge.';His theory of tacit knowing is conceived of as three consecutive 'models' which explain the main strands constituting tacit knowing. The Gestalt Model is based on the analogy 'scientific insight is like gestalt perception,' the Action-Guiding Model develops the existential-phenomenological aspects of tacit knowing, the Semiotic Model introduces the notion of 'tacit triad' to show how action is directed, or 'tends to' meaning: this is Polanyi's conception of inference as integration. The three models are tied together by 'heuristic striving' --a commitment to truth and engagement with reality.;Polanyi's three successive 'models' are to be taken as presenting a relation of a relation, a method of model-building causing some difficulty both in conveying and in understanding his theory. My analysis of each level of relation and the connection of levels aims at clarification of his method.;The theory's workings are demonstrated by examples from the sciences and mathematics. As a detailed 'test case,' Einstein's discovery of the Special Theory of Relativity is examined, as it is understood by 'the standard view of science' and as it is understood by Polanyi. The 'test case' is presented as an examination of the nature and justification of Personal Knowledge.;An extension of Polanyi's theory of Personal Knowledge is suggested for application in somatic medicine, as a resolution of the debate on the use of mechanistic versus phenomenological approaches to clinical practice.;Polanyi believed that his theory of tacit knowing is generalizable, and is fundamental to the idea of an educated mind. |
