Abstract

This essay is part of a study about constructivist intellectual elements in Dutch ordinary language words for thinking and speaking. It deals with the words 'besef and' beseffen' and their equivalents, approximatively translated as: to be aware, to have a notion, to realize or to understand. The main hypothesis is that in 'besef and its equivalents always is spoken of a knowing 'that' about an important fact or situation, not about a knowing 'how' or 'why'. It is typical for the intellectual and moral preponderancy of the awareness or consciousness expressed by 'beseffen', that it contains no constructive elements stemming from an autonomous subject of thinking itself, and that nevertheless 'besef' refers to what is most evident or certain theoretically and obliging practically