Theory of Knowledge

TOK

Scientific Knowledge

• Acquired by using the scientific method– There is no real sequence of events and often the sequence is

stopped and reevaluated throughout the process– Main Stages

• Ask an interesting question• Formulate a hypothesis• Devise an experiment to test the hypothesis• Perform the experiment• Analyze the results• Publish the results• Wait for peer review

– Once the results are published other scientist repeat the experiments to test the validity

Biology has its unique struggles

• A huge part of gaining a valid TOK is to repeat the experiment multiple times with the same results.

• What inherent problem does experimenting with living organisms create as far as validating experimental results?

Another twist with living subjects

• Living things are variable – No two individuals will

respond identically to the same set of circumstances

– No two individuals have the same exact physiology

• Human beings are suggestible– If a human thinks a

drug is going to heal them they often feel better

– Drug testing often is done with the drug and a placebo – no one but the administers know who gets what drug

Ethical Questions

• Most humans use the principle that living things should be free to continue living unmolested

• With this in mind to what extent and to what end are humans justified in interfering with other living things our search for knowledge?

Discussion Questions• A project to look at the effectiveness of a cure for a cat flu that you

intend to test on cats.• A project to look for the cure for AIDS that initially tests the drug for

toxicity using mice• An experiment to find out how the circulation of a horse works that

involves dissecting a dead horse.• An experiment to find out how the circulation of a horse works that

involves inserting probes into a live horse that might cause some discomfort to the horse.

• An experiment to test the depth at which humans can dive without facing physiological consequences using volunteer divers.

• Exposing people to radiation to see how it effects human health.• Performing scientific experiments on prisoners of war or of the

justice system.

More questions of Moral Acceptability

• Why is genetic engineering worse than selective breeding?• Is it okay to clone an animal but not a human?• Where do we draw the line in genetically altering human fetuses?

– Selecting the sex of the child?– Curing disease?– Enhancing intellect or athletic ability?– Making a carbon copy of yourself?

• Do we have the right to make a species extinct?– Great white sharks?– Death adder snake?– The smallpox virus?

• Does the government have the right to use research to make health decisions for the public?– Seat belt laws?– Immunizations against disease?