Reflexions on the concept of knowing: From classical epistemology to acts of knowing

The Western philosophical and scientific tradition, from Plato and Aristotle defines the concept of knowledge with the conditions that it is expressed in propositions, which are true and whose truth has been rigorously proven. In contrast with that approach, present management research focuses also on tacit knowledge, knowledge creation and knowing. Tacit knowledge cannot be expressed in propositions, and we study it with the instrument of acts of knowing. Many authors consider acts of knowing relating them to action and practices. In the same way that the present concept of knowledge includes different kinds of knowledge, such as propositional and tacit knowledge and physical skills, the paper points out that we can consider acts of knowing in relation not only to tacit knowledge but also to propositional knowledge. Our approach is based on three theoretical approaches: first, the logical ideas that W. Quine presented in the book The Web of Knowledge. Second, the phenomenological study of Alfred Schutz on mental constructs and intentional action. Third, the cognitive psychology view which considers thinking as a form of processing information. That integrated framework clarifies some notions related to tacit knowledge and acts of knowing. It allows us to study acts of knowing related to perception, getting new knowledge, storing knowledge, retrieving knowledge and acting.