I have a question

Is Polanyi just for me'n'you, or for critters and spirit-beings, too? Is the Polanyian model valid for human knowing only; for the epistemic acts of all created beings; for all knowing, period; or what?

It seems reasonable to me that it applies fairly well to animals, at least in some fashion. Observation of animal behavior may bear this out. Watch how butterflies are initially attracted to all brightly colored objects, even the likes of SUVs, until they fly close enough for long enough to discover their misinterpretation. Watch how cats use their senses to know just where to pounce on a rodent in high grass or thick bushes; they can't see the rodent but they can extrapolate what and where it is by the movement of the foliage, by the sound, and by the smell. Is that not a case of the integration of clues to a coherent pattern? Are there elements of the human act of knowing that distinguish it from what animals can do, not merely in degree (if even that) but in principle?

What about angels and demons? What do they know, and how? Can they know things with a certainty that transcends human knowing, or are they subject to the same possibility of doubt about some things? I believe they can learn. Judging by the sweep of history, I'd say the devil has learned a considerable amount over 6000 years about how to better deceive people. He may still be honing his craft. (What, someone who still believes in a real devil? Uh, don't look now, but there's a hungry lion behind you.)

Most importantly, perhaps, what about God? Does he go about knowing the same way we do? Since He created all and sustains all, and all things have their being in Him, A) Can there be any sense in which His omniscience is due to a flawless integration of exhaustively descried subsidiaries? Or, B) Does He simply know, with absolute certainty and perfect clarity, every thing? Is His Knowing utterly qualitatively, or only quantitatively, different from ours? Is human epistemic nature a function of the Imago Dei or of our creatureliness?

If we open the door to scenario A, are we thereby also giving the heresy of Open Theism a toehold? Could the Polanyian model, if widely accepted, undermine Reformed theology?

My head feels funny now. This is your inquiring mind. This is your inquiring mind on LTK. Any questions?