Theory of Knowledge. Study Guide 2014

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1 1. Introduction to Theory of Knowledge Theory of Knowledge Study Guide 2014 Theory of knowledge is a critical thinking course. Rather than learning data as you do in your other subjects, the key focus of ToK is to train you in assessing the methods and scope involved in the other subjects. That is, ToK teaches you to think about how you know what you know, and about the different areas of knowledge (science, history etc.). This explains why ToK is a core subject within the IB. It is seen as central because it is used to think about every other subject. Despite its expansive reach, ToK can be quite manageable if broken down into its individual topics. This guide does just that, meaning that when it comes to assessments you will know what you are talking about! 2. The different types of knowledge The starting point to succeeding in ToK is to understand that there are different categories of knowledge. These can be divided into shared knowledge and personal knowledge. Shared knowledge is knowledge that others can check and correct. An example of shared knowledge is the results of scientific experiments. There are socially agreed methods for producing knowledge. For scientists the agreed method might be the scientific method. Collecting plenty of authentic documents might count as historical proof. The particular knowledge community agrees on how it will seek knowledge. There are also agreed standards of explanation in each knowledge community. For example, in the scientific community a level of rationality is required. If an explanation does not meet the requirements of the knowledge community it will be rejected. For example an irrational explanation will not be accepted as a scientific explanation. There are many kinds of knowledge community. Ethnic, religious and cultural groups might all value different kinds of knowledge and evaluate things differently. Your IB subjects are areas of shared knowledge! Personal knowledge is different from shared knowledge because there is no socially established way to evaluate personal knowledge. The way you feel is a kind of personal knowledge. Only you know how you feel. There are no external standards to measure your personal knowledge against. It can also be very difficult to communicate personal knowledge. Skills and talents are an example of knowledge personal to you. It might be very difficult, for example, to communicate what it is like to be an excellent singer. Shared and personal knowledge are not always separate the two can affect each other. Shared knowledge can impact our view of the world and the way we interpret things. An artist and a scientist might have reacted quite differently to the 1969 moon landings, when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. Be your very best 1

2 3. Knowledge Questions and Knowledge Claims Knowledge questions Are about knowledge they ask how we produce knowledge, usually focussing on the Ways of Knowing (WoK). This is in contrast to your other subjects which usually seek knowledge. There are many different answers to them, so there isn t a right answer in ToK They use general language, not the special vocabulary of the areas of knowledge. Thus the question can there be certainty in science is a more suitable knowledge question than are we certain that electrons orbit the atomic nucleus?. Knowledge claims Knowledge claims can be categorized into two types First order claims are made within the different Areas of Knowledge, such as the mathematical claim that all prime numbers are odd. These are claims about knowledge. Second order claims are claims made about knowing such as all knowledge is subjective. Such claims are then examined using the tools of ToK to think about what knowledge is. A good ToK essay or presentation will identify a knowledge question and examine a knowledge claim. 4. The Ways of Knowing There are eight different ways of knowing. Each is concerned with answering the question how do I know (for individual knowledge claims) and how do we know (for shared knowledge claims). From the eight Ways of Knowing, your school will help you learn about at least four in depth. Language, sense perception, emotion and reason are described briefly here. You should focus on the Ways of Knowing you feel most comfortable discussing in your presentation and essay. Language This is defined as a system of signs with shared meanings. This can include letters, symbols, gestures, pictures and sounds. All over the world people use language every day to communicate. Despite being everywhere language is flawed. Aspects such as sarcasm and irony can cause confusion. Language clearly communicates knowledge. However linguistic determinism argues that the words we use structure the way we think about the world. One example for this is the fact that Russian speakers, who have more words for light and dark blues, are better able to visually discriminate shades of blue. Sense perception Tradition suggests that we receive information about the physical world through our five senses. But this has recently been challenged have you thought about the sense of heat? Of pain? Movement, balance, hunger, thirst and the sense of where your body parts are in space might also make the list of sense. If you close your eyes you can probably still touch a finger to your elbow how did you know where your elbow and finger would be? At one time it was suggested that all our knowledge came to us through the senses. There is now a debate about how our previous ideas about the world shape the way we see things. Look around Be your very best 2

3 the room - what you see is filtered by what you know. See the door? What your brain receives is a complex pattern of colours in various shades and a mix of light and dark. But you remember what a door looks like. This means that instead of having to process all the details of the things in front of you they just turn into door, bed and lamp. This example shows that there is some crossover between senses, expectations and language. Emotion One view of emotions is that they are physical responses in your body to the environment. Charles Darwin supported this naturalistic model of emotions. Such a model might suggest that emotions are universal human responses to the environment, but there is an alternative view. Social constructionists argue that emotions depend on society. Some societies will have different ways of responding to different situations. Sickness in the West, for example, may cause people to feel the need to fight with scientific knowledge and resources. In other cultures there may be more of a need to pray or ask for health. In the past emotion has been criticized for being irrational and distorting reality. But others have argued that without emotion there are aspects of human experience we cannot understand. Do you think emotion is a help or a hindrance in understanding reality? Reason Reason is closely linked to logic. Logic is the ability to reach certain conclusions from particular premises. All IB students study ToK, Jeff is an IB student, therefore Jeff studies ToK. This is an example of logical reasoning called deduction and the conclusion is certainly true. Reason is broader than deductive logic, however. It also includes looking at the general and making statements about the specific. For example, all the dogs you have seen have had fur, therefore dogs have fur. This does not mean that dogs certainly have fur, but it is reasonable to think that the next dog you see is likely to be furry. Reason also includes using statistics and probability to draw conclusions about reality. Given that there are many different elements to reasonable behaviour we can see how different cultures and different knowledge communities might have different standards for what is reasonable. This is one of the things that ToK explores. 5. Areas of Knowledge If the Ways of Knowing are designed to help you think about how we know then the Areas of Knowledge are about what we know. The AoKs are explored by applying the following knowledge frameworks Scope, motivation and applications Specific terminology and concepts Methods used to produce knowledge Key historical developments Interaction between the shared AoK and personal knowledge The above knowledge frameworks are a way to think about the different AoKs. Your teacher will go through the different Areas of Knowledge with you to help you understand how the knowledge frameworks apply. Be your very best 3

4 There are eight Areas of Knowledge in total: mathematics the natural sciences the human sciences history the arts ethics religious knowledge systems indigenous knowledge systems. Below, two Areas of Knowledge are explored. You should investigate the remaining ones to find out what interests you. Human Sciences This is the study of what it is to be human and, in the IB includes your group 3 subjects. The study of human societies, psychology, and culture are all included under this title. One point of discussion is the use of the word science. They may be called sciences because they may use the scientific method to create and test hypotheses about human behaviour. However human sciences may struggle to make reliable predictions about the universe and may have to rely on statistical probability rather hard laws of certain behaviour. The following knowledge questions are worth considering: What constitutes good evidence in the human sciences? What are the problems involved in the methods of statistics? The Arts A name for the creative productions of human beings, the arts includes visual, performing and literary arts. The arts are essentially an exploration of what it is to be human, they are also essential to human culture. Earlier the difference between personal and shared knowledge was discussed. The arts can be thought of as bridging these two areas. How does art relate the individual to the shared? The individual is reached through the emotions, but reason and shared understanding ensure that art is something many people can relate to. 6. Assessment What is it? A presentation An essay Briefly Produce a presentation on a Choose a title from a list given by the IBO describe the task real-life situation. The presentation must identify a knowledge question (pt. 3) Percentage 33% 67% of grade? How? Group or individual work Handle a knowledge question in 1600 words What the IBO want - Focus on a knowledge question - Investigate different perspectives - Link to the areas of knowledge - Link to the ways of knowing - Focus on a knowledge question - Connect to a real-life situation - Show convincing arguments from different perspectives - Show that your conclusion is relevant to the real life situation Be your very best 4

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