The Tacit Dimension

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[The Tacit Dimension] . . . gives us a new opportunity to see how far-reaching—and foundational—Michael Polanyi’s ideas are, on some of the age-old questions inphilosophy.’ —Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and Lamont University Professor at Harvard University. An authority in physical chemistry, as well as in economics and social science, Michael Polanyi held the view, ‘We can know more than we can tell.’ He termed this pre-logical phase ‘tacit knowledge’—a range of conceptual and sensory information and images that can be explored while trying to make sense of something. This kind of knowledge incorporated so much embedded learning that its rules were impossible to separate or reproduce in a document. It normally could not be verbalized—but rather demonstrated and imitated. Nor could ‘tacit knowledge’ be formalized as it included tradition and inherited practices; it implied values, and pre-judgments; yet it nonetheless formed a crucial part of scientific knowledge. First published in 1966, this book, like all Michael Polanyi’s works, received widespread attention. This reprint brings his work to the attention of a new generation of students and scholars.

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Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) was a Hungarian-British chemist and philosopher, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and author of several books, including Science, Faith and Society. He won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986.