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AUTHORITY AS A SOURCE OF
KNOWLEDGE
The major part of our knowledge is derived from the assertions of other persons. None can say that aven a half of his beliefs, is based exclusively on his own experience. Nevertheless every intellectual tries to establish his claim as a rational being. To be called irrational, illogical or a person led by the assertions of other persons, hurts our sense of pride. Inspite of this it is a fact that we cannot dispense with authority as a source of knowledge. Our quantum of knowledge would reduce considerably and the life would come to a stop if belief in authority is given up altogether. We believe in the theories of scientists, in the railway time table, in different charts and hundreds of other statements merely on the basis of authority.
Thus, we see that resort to authority is indispensable for accumulation of knowledge. But, there are divergent views regarding its reliability. Some schools of thought totally reject authority as a reliable source of knowledge. They are not prepared, to accept any statement without putting it to the test of reason or experience. But, their claim is confined to theory only. In practice they do believe in the words of propounders of their respective systems. There are others who introduce some criterion for its validity. In doing so, either they cross the bound
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