Communication is a form of symbolic interaction, in which humans mutually make meaning of the knowledge others utter. Some, but not all communication processes result in co-ordination and co-operation processes that create knowledge products that satisfy the human need to be informed. Such knowledge products can also be of a more individual nature, for example a novel written by an author. Such a novel is however also a social product because authors form ideas in communication processes with other humans and by reading the works of others. The quality of knowledge products and their specific relations to society and nature depend on the type of knowledge. Adequately understanding knowledge therefore requires a typology of the forms of knowledge.
3.3.9. Fritz Machlup: Types of Knowledge
What types of knowledge are there? Let us have a look at two of the most important approaches, the ones by the economist Fritz Machlup and the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas. Machlup is a very influential social thinker because his 1962 book The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States was an early formulation of the claim that there is a transition towards a postindustrial knowledge society.
For Machlup, knowledge production is ‘any human (or human-induced) activity efectively designed to create, alter, or confirm in a human mind a meaningful apperception, awareness, cognizance, or consciousness of anything whatsoever’ (Machlup 1980, 92). He draws a distinction between five classes of knowledge (Machlup 1980, 108; 1962, 21–22):
- Practical knowledge: Knowledge that is ‘useful in the knower’s work (Machlup 1980, 108);
- Intellectual knowledge: Knowledge that satisfies ‘intellectual curiosity, regarded as part of liberal education, humanistic and scientific learning, general culture’ (ibid.);
- Small-talk and pastime knowledge: Knowledge that is ‘satisfying the nonintellectual curiosity or his desire for light entertainment and emotional stimulation, including local gossip, news of crimes and accidents, light novels, stories, jokes, games, etc.’ (ibid.);
- Spiritual knowledge: Knowledge that is ‘related to his religious knowledge of God and of the ways to the salvation of the soul’ (ibid.),
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Critical Theory of Communication