Theory of Knowledge

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Introduction to Theory of Knowledge
I think, therefore IB.
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Theory???

• Theory comes from the Greek word for theatre as a
  way of seeing something, so Looking at
  Knowledge might be an equivalent for Theory of
  knowledge.
• Theory of knowledge is not meant to imply that
  there is only one theory about knowledge.

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• What makes up the things we think of as
  knowledge?
• When we know something how do we know it is even
  really true?
• The four ways of knowing

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Sense Perception To what extent does our
perception influence what we think we know?
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Reason To what extent is reason unreliable as a
way of knowing?
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Emotion To what extent is emotion an obstacle
to reliable knowledge?
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Language To what extent does language
influence what we think we know?
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How do we see things?
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Your impressions??? A reasoned approach is
thought of when making personal decisions
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You, the knower, where has your knowledge come
from?...Your Communities of Knowledge

• Parents, grandparents, uncles/aunts, siblings ?
  Their jobs, wealth, health?
• Your languages/nationalities
• Rural/Urban
• Music/Sport/Art/Social/individual?
• Experiences? Books? Food? School?
• Things/ ideas you dont like?
• Religion? Cultural background? Présuppositions?

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Presuppositions
What did the Polish astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus contest in 1543?
Which nation/ country is in the middle of the world map? Why is this so?

• Is Shakespeare the greatest playwright?
• To whom is Rabindranath Tagore the greatest and/
  or what about Confucius?

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More about Knowledge

• Knowledge is never static, but has a history and
  changes over time.
• Yesterdays revolution in thought becomes todays
  common sense, and todays common sense may go on
  to become tomorrows superstition.
• Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you
  know
• a thing, to recognize that you know it and when
• you do not know it. That is knowledge. Confucius

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What about theories?

• Theories need to be challenged, otherwise
  intellectual progress will come to a halt and
  knowledge will stagnate.

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Certainty

• What makes you certain about something?
• Certainty is what distinguishes knowledge from
  mere belief. The idea here is that when you know
  something you are certain of, it is true and have
  no doubts about it but when you merely believe
  it, you think it is true, but you are not
  certain.
• At first sight, this seems reasonable enough but
  when you start to look critically at the things
  we normally claim to know, you may begin to
• wonder if any of them are completely certain!

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How certain are we of the following?

• Man and dinosaurs dwelled side by side on earth.
  The extinction of the dinosaurs was due to
  disease.
• Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969.
• Apples are red.
• Human saliva has a boiling point three times that
  of regular water.
• In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families
  were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them
  hairless throughout their lives.

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Gullibility

• To what extent do you believe in paranormal
  phenomenon?
• UFO sightings
• Loch Ness Monsters
• Bigfoot
• Bermuda Triangle
• Mayan predictions
• We do have limits beyond which we conclude that a
  belief in a phenomenon as absurd.

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Why do we need logic?

• Deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is
  derived from two premises.

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DeductionDeduction is making conclusions based
on premises that are known to be true.
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Induction

• Induction is another extremely important term for
  TOK and our lives in general.
• Induction is claiming knowledge about future
  events based on past experiences.
• Science and the scientific method is based
  heavily upon induction.

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Inductive Reasoning
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Critical Thinking

1. Problems are a challenge not a nuisance
2. Strive to understand complexity
3. Conclusions based on the evidence, not gut
   instincts or personal preferences
4. Considering the alternative view
5. Critical thinking helps us examine our lives and
   to be critical of the knowledge acquired.

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Non-sequitur (it does not follow). This means
that the proposed conclusion cannot be deduced
with certitude from the given premises.
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Non-sequitur images
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• What message do you gather in this cartoon?
  Explain.
• How are the following sentences deemed as
  non-sequitur?
• If I get a new iPhone, everyone will love me!

Since my instructor is young, I am sure she
will be a good teacher.
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Knowledge Issue

• Good KI
• An open question, explicitly about Knowledge,
  couched in terms of relations between concepts
  from AoK, WoK and belief, certainty, culture,
  evidence, experience, explanation,
  interpretation, intuition, justification, truth,
  values.
• To what extent can human sciences use
  mathematical techniques to make accurate
  predictions?
• Plato defined knowledge as justified true
  belief. This implies that someone must have
  solid reasons for believing that something is
  true. However, someone else may have other good
  reasons for believing something different.
  Anything questionable in this way is a knowledge
  issue.

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Real-Life Situation

• The TOK oral presentation requires that students
  focus on a real-life situation that raises one
  or more knowledge issues and then analyze how
  those questions might be considered, with
  explicit reference to appropriate Areas of
  Knowledge and  Ways of Knowing.
• Here are a few ideas for real-life situations
  that raise knowledge issues
• How do I know whether to trust what the
  government says?
• How do people decide whether they should smoke
  cigarettes (or drink alcohol, or use drugs)?
• Should the government regulate pornography, or
  make it illegal altogether or not?
• Should prisons attempt to rehabilitate criminals?
  

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The Traditional TOK Framework

• Where do you see yourself in the diagram?
• How does the diagram show that knowledge is
  acquired by the knower?
• Is the growth of knowledge a process of life? Why
  is this so?
• Knowledge never ceases, it is a continuous
  development in understanding the emergence of the
  new.

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The IB definition

• The course challenges students and their teachers
  to reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing
  and areas of knowledge and to consider the role
  knowledge plays in a global society.
• It encourages students to become aware of
  themselves as thinkers to become aware of the
  complexity of knowledge and to recognize the need
  to act responsibly in an increasingly
  interconnected world.
• TOK is about the examination of the world
• around us.

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TOKs Place in the IB Curriculum

• In other classes, you look at language, history,
  social studies, math, art, and science. In TOK,
  we look through the binoculars tools you use for
  knowing.

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IB Learner Profile
Inquirers Knowledgeable Thinkers Communicators Principled 6. Open-minded 7. Caring 8. Risk-takers 9. Balanced 10. Reflective
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How is TOK and Learner Profile connected?

• Inquirers
• TOK students seek to find out how knowledge is
  constructed using various ways of knowing and by
  considering what constitutes knowledge in various
  areas of knowledge. It is a fundamental premise
  of TOK that personal knowledge should not result
  from simple acceptance of knowledge claims
  without sufficient inquiry and evidence.

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• Knowledgeable
• TOK students strive to be knowledgeable about the
  nature of knowledge. This means becoming
  knowledgeable about the methods of inquiry of a
  variety of subject areas, from a number of
  perspectives. Students are encouraged to explore
  the processes by which individuals arrive at
  their own knowledge and understanding of the
  world and the presuppositions that underpin this
  understanding.

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Assessments

• The Presentation
• The TOK presentation involves giving a detailed,
  analytical oral presentation integrating
  Knowledge Issues with Real Life Situations in a
  balanced and thoughtful manner.

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The Essay

• An analytical essay of 1200-1600 words in
  response to one of six Prescribed Essay Titles
  provided by the IB. The focus of the Essay is on
  an analysis of Knowledge Issues in a structured,
  organized and balanced manner.

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Extra Reading

• Sophies World by Jostein Gaarder

• Zen and the Art of
• Motorcycle Maintenance
• by Robert M. Pirsig

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