TaK

What is TaK?

Looking back … What do we know, and how do we know it?

Looking forward … How can enquiry be conducted so that it will lead towards truth and knowledge rather than error and ignorance?

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Fact

Belief

Opinion

Information Prejudice

EvidenceTruth

Knowledge

?

The Raw Material

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What is a Knowledge Claim?

Examples …

Claims

1. (I know that) the sky is blue

2. (I know that) 2 + 2 = 4

3. (I know that) it is wrong to murder a person

4. (I know that) I have a fear of spiders

5. (I know that) I went out for a run yesterday

6. (I know that) what the doctor said is true

7. (I know that) women are more emotional than men

8. I know exactly what God wants of me

9. I know that I am going to heaven

10. (I know that) the fjord is more beautiful than a rubbish tip

11. (I know that) I love my brother

Knowledge Claims

‘Good’ reasons you might have for what you claim to know, and choose to believe, may include:

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logic

perception

intuition

Self-awareness

memory

consensusauthority

faith

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Knowledge Claims

Here is a list of things that I might claim to know,and another list of reasons I might give to support these claims.

Claims

1. I know that the sky is blue

2. I know that 2 + 2 = 4

3. I know that it is wrong to murder a person

4. I know that I have a fear of spiders

5. I know that I went out for a run yesterday

6. I know that what the doctor said is true

7. I know that women are more emotional than men

8. I know exactly what God wants of me

9. I know that I am going to heaven

10. I know that the fjord is more beautiful than a rubbish tip

11. I know that I love my brother

Justification

Value judgement

Faith

Memory

Authority

Intuition

Revelation

Sense perception

Logic

Self-awareness

Common knowledge

Instinct

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(You should have received this as

a handout)

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What is a Knowledge Issue?

Questions which may help us to obtain knowledge …

What…?Who…?

How…?Why…?

When…?

Where…?

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… and a partial list of factors which may help or hinder* our ability to obtain the truth…..

Age

Ethnicity

Education

Gender

NationalityPrejudice

Experience

Beliefs

Emotions

Assumptions

*hinder: to prevent, cause delay, get in the way

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What is a Knowledge Issue?

Examples …

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Claim that alternative medical practices such as acupuncture are effective in treating certain conditions

Real-life situation:

Knowledge Issues:

Question of language: what exactly do we mean by ‘effective’?

How do we test whether a treatment is effective?

What constitutes a positive result?

Would statistical likelihood of a positive result serve as justifying the claim – or do we insist on absolute 100% positive results?

If we accept a statistically likely result as being positive evidence for the claim – what precisely do we mean by ‘statistically likely’?

If we accept the claim how can we explain that two different systems of knowledge with quite different assumptions, concepts, and methodologies

can apply to medical conditions?

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The Presentation

• Real-life situation• Contemporary problem

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Real-life situation.

Identify some central conflict

revolving around a knowledge

issue

Tentative resolution of the central conflict in

the real-life situation

Branching Arguments

Underlying knowledge

issues

Evaluationof

Knowledge Issues

ToK vocabulary

Vocabulary ofreal-life situation

Ab

stra

ctio

n

Imp

licat

ion

s

The structure and vocabulary of a ToK Presentation

from Ric Sims

1

2 3

4

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The Presentation

• Examples…? In groups, brainstorm possible Presentation topics and approaches to the topics.

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The Essay

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Choose real examples from

different Areas of Knowledge to make

sense of the Prescribed Title and highlight knowledge

issues. Examples will generate possible

arguments.

Exploration of the tensions between

examples and abstract ToK vocabulary.

Arguments will show the limits of our assumptions.

Branching Arguments

Prescribed Title

Evaluationof

Knowledge Issues

ToK vocabulary

Vocabulary ofexamples linked to

abstract ToK vocabulary

Mak

e co

ncr

ete

Gen

eral

isat

ion

The structure and vocabulary of a ToK Essay

from Ric Sims

1

2 3

4

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Some Prescribed Titles:

• Evaluate the role of intuition in different areas of knowledge.

• Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

• Are some ways of knowing more likely than others to lead to truth?

In groups, brainstorm possible knowledge issues that are raised by these titles. Think of examples.