Personal Knowledge
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Personal Knowledge
| Author | Michael Polanyi |
|---|---|
| Published | 1958 |
| Pages | 428 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Polanyi’s argument that wholly detached, impersonal knowledge is incoherent: scientific knowing depends on skills that cannot be fully stated and on commitments the knower makes — not subjectivism, but an account in which the knower’s participation is a condition of objectivity rather than a contaminant of it. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, shared in March 2026, near the end of Science, Technology, and Epistemology, paired with Polanyi’s The Republic of Science — the counterweight to the section’s formalising accounts, and the reason the curriculum treats knowledge as something people do rather than something stored. Full transcription: The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
Connections
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
- Michael Polanyi — the author.
- Epistemology — the book’s central target and contribution.
- Science — scientific practice as the case study.
- Innovation — tacit knowledge as the part of know-how that does not transfer by writing it down.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.