Types of Knowledge: Procedural Knowledge

The second kind of knowledge is procedural knowledge, or knowledge how to do something. The claims to know how to juggle and how to drive are claims to have procedural knowledge.

Procedural knowledge clearly differs from propositional knowledge. It is possible to know all of the theory behind driving a car (i.e. to have all of the relevant propositional knowledge) without actually knowing how to drive a car (i.e. without having the procedural knowledge).

You may know which pedal is the accelerator and which is the break. You may know where the handbrake is and what it does. You may know where your blind spots are are when you need to check them. But until you get behind the wheel and learn how to apply all this theory, you do not know how to drive.

Knowing how to drive involves possessing a skill, being able to do something; that is very different to knowing a load of facts.