"I Know More Than I Can Tell": The Insights of Michael Polanyi (Biography‪)‬

"I KNOW MORE THAN I CAN TELL" is the epigrammatic expression of a philosopher who, arguably more profoundly than any other, has challenged not only modern but also post-modern understandings of human knowing. Yet, strangely--some thirty years after his death, in 1976--he is rarely known even among most academic philosophers. His name was Michael Polanyi. So, my intention is to introduce to the reader this remarkable man and, in the course of doing this, to outline the major focus of his philosophical reflections, specifically his brilliant contributions to the field of "epistemology"--a word that derives from the ancient Greek word pistis, and that refers to inquiry into the nature of knowing. For example: How do we know anything? What does it mean when we make the claim that we know something? What can we know? And what are the limits of our knowing?