Intro to TOK World

Gr11 W1

Why TOK?

0 Intellectual Journey0Develop our skills as reflective thinkers0Richer understanding of the world

TOK Terminology-1

0 Justified:shown to be fair, right or reasonable

0True: logically consistent, honest, correct or accurate

0Belief: a feeling that what you think is true

Knowledge Claims

0«the universe is 13.77 billion years old»0Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the

moon»0«knowledge can be based on faith and reason»0«I know Burma is now called Myanmar» - claim of

personal certainty0«I believe Burma is now called Myanmar» - recognises

a personal uncertainty0 I know = I am claiming to be certain about it.

KC

0Difficulty of certainty

0 Insufficient evidence

Types of Knowledge

0What is knowledge?02 types:

0 Priori: before experience0 Posteriori: after experience

OR0 First hand: we gain for ourselves0 Second hand: we acquire from other sources

Types of Knowledge

0 3 types:0 Practical knowledge: how to do things, like how to swim, play

a violin or read a book0 Knowledge by acquanintance: first hand. Knowing ourselves,

people we have met, places we’ve been to, taste of things etc. 0 Factual knowledge: about events that have actually occured

or things hat have been verified as true (collection of KCs about the world in all AOK)0 True by definition: «my parents are my mother and father.» (fact

of the English)0No guarantee that a truth by definition entails existence0 e.g. unicorns

TOK Terminology-2

0AOK: branches of knowledge that have 0 A distinct nature and different methods of gaining

knowledge0 Maths, NS, HS, Arts, Ethics, religious knowledge systems

and indigenous knowledge systems0Valid:

well-grounded or justified0KQ:

an open question that explores issues of knowing

Activity

0Discussion on KCs 0 Page 5

Knowledge Questions

0Explicitly about what knowledge is0How we know what we claim to know

0 e.g. To what extent might one WOK be more reliable than another?

0To gain a better and deeper understanding of what we hold as true and why

0We may lose some of our certainties

TOK Terminology-3

0Ways of knowing: how we know what we know. Language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition and memory

Assignment-1

0 Presentation task: Consider how you might develop the following KQ for a presentation. What RLS might your developed question apply to?0 To what extent does our willingness to rely on eyewitness

accounts depend on our emotional responses?0 Extended writing task: write 500 word on one of the

following questions;0 1. how important is it that we are certain about what we

claim as knowledge?0 2. to what extent might it be more important for knowledge

to be useful rather than accurate?

Justification and Evidence

0«Is the KC supported by substantial evidence and/or valid reasoning?»

0 Justification often relies on evidence0Neither coincidence nor correlation implies causation0When we have enough evidence to be able to claim sth

as true, we may view this as proof of its truth.

TOK Terminology-40 Valid reason:

a reason that is well-founded and convincing; a valid argument is an argument that follows the rules of logic

0 Evidence: information that is interpreted to support a particular argument

0 Proof: enough evidence to claim something as true

0 Anectodal evidence: evidence that comes from personal stories

0 Coincidence: when two or more events happen at the same time independently of each other

0 Correlation: when there is a relationship between two or more events, but t is not necessarily a causal relationship

0 Causation: when one event leand to another event, for example kicking a football causes the ball to move

TOK Terminology-5

0 Shared knowledge: what we know as part of a group or community; for example, what we learn through the curriculum at school is a set of skills and information agreed on by educators, politicians and other as important knowledge for our society.0 Distributed knowledge:

the combined knowledge of all the individuals in an organisation, society, nation or the world

0 Personal knowledge: the knowledge we have through our own experiences and prsonal involvement; this can include knowledge by acquaintance, practical knowledge and factual knowledge0 Tacit:

understood or implied without being explicitly stated

Assignment-2

0 Presentation task: choose one of the following KQs below. Consider how you might develop the following KQ for a presentation. Select some RL examples that you might use as evidence to support and to counter your argument. 0 To what extent do we evaluate evidence before making a judgement, and to

what extent do we look for evidence to support our judgements?0 How does the importanca of justifiying our beliefs differ across different AOK?

0 Extended writing task: write 500 word on one of the following questions;0 1. to what extent are we persuaded by the quantity of evidence rather than the

quality of evidence?0 2. how can we justify beliefs that do not seem to agree with available

evidence?0 3. to what extent can we justify beliefs that rest on very flimsy or anectodal

evidence? And why might we want to hold or justify such beliefs?

WOK in shared and personal knowledge

0Explore0 Language0 Emotion0 Sense perception0 Reason

WOK-LANGUAGE

0Languages evolve in different societies and cultures0Can only function as a means of communication as far

as it is shared0Meaning must be shared so that it can be understood0Without shared knowledge, there could be no

language0How we interpret and hear language is also deeply

personal

WOK-EMOTION

0 Intensely personal way of knowing0Shape our thoughts and behaviours0 Influence our interpretation of the world0Positive and negative words may affect the way we

respond to circumstances0May ultimately determine how we interpet language

and sense peception0How we respond to issues of faith and how we apply

our reason0Emotive language

WOK-SENSE PERCEPTION

0Help us to understand the world0As good as our sensory apparatus and our brains’

interpretation of the data it receives0Music, book, conversations, foods, aromas and so on.0Perceptions may still have in common0Confirm with others0«Did you see that?», «can you hear the noise?», «does

this milk smell off to you?»0Believe if shared by the others

WOK-REASON

0Socially accepted definitions of what constitutes reason and what does not.

0We use reason to construct an argument or justify a belief, to assess our intuition and imagination

0Valid reasoning0Formal logic (deductive reasoning) can never lead to

certaity except in so far as the premises it starts with are certain

0 Inductive reasoning is inherently fallible

TOK Terminology-6

0Argument: ability to persuade using reason and evidence

0Premise: a proposition assumed to be truei on which an argument is based

Assignment-3

0 Presentation task: Presentation task: Consider how you might develop the following KQ for a presentation. What RLS might your developed question apply to?0 How do shared and personal knowledge complement each

other?0 Extended writing task: write 500 word on one of the

following questions;0 1. how do we decide which knowledge claims to trust when

our personal knowledge is at odds with knowledge that is widely shared?

0 2. when, if ever, should society allow personal knowledge claims to change shared knowledge?

Why Assignments

0To prepare yourself for0 Presentation (IA) 0 Essay

0To let me find out your misconceptions0To let me give you feedback for your improvement