ABSTRACT
The extent to which different forms of knowledge have found public acceptability and validity, has been very much associated with the manner in which power and authority have been distributed in the society of the time. In the medieval period, the acquisition of knowledge was an incremental process, often lasting many years. It tended to involve a gradual initiation into a particular form of intellectual life, often associated with ecclesiastical doctrine and a related way of life. Some of the features of knowledge in the contemporary world, introduce a number of threats to the functioning of society, and contain inherent risks for the individual seeking to identify a meaningful and secure role in contemporary social life. In a contemporary world which sees to some extent the diminution of the strength of some social norms, and value systems existing in a state of evolution, existentialism views the dilemma of humanity as the making of the necessary moral choices.
