ToK PresentationArticle in ‘The Guardian’ newspaperon 19th September 2012

ToK PresentationReal-life situationArticle in ‘The Guardian’ newspaperon 26th September 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odprMkzOst8

ToK PresentationReal-life situationQuestions raised:• How sensible is it to believe without

carefully examining the evidence?

• What is the difference between ‘knowing that’ and ‘knowing why’?

• Is it necessary to accept some things as ‘true’?

• How are we affected by such knowledge claims?

• What evidence should we trust, and why?

ToK PresentationKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

Discuss looking at:• Arts• History• Human Sciences• Natural Sciences

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso 1907 Fountain by Marcel Duchamp 1917

“…one of the most important canvasses of the twentieth century…”

Dr. Beth Harris

”…seminal in the early development of both cubism and modern art…”

Wikipedia

”…an icon of twentieth-century art…”Tate Gallery

“… the most important artwork of the 20th century…”The Economist

ToK PresentationThe ArtsKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

Nanking Massacre (‘The Rape of Nanking’) 1937 ‘Bloody Sunday’ - Derry, Northern Ireland, 1972

ToK PresentationHistoryKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

Photograph of an alleged UFO takenin New Jersey, taken on July 31, 1952

Photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon July 20, 1969

ToK PresentationHuman SciencesKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

ToK PresentationNatural SciencesKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

Photograph of the Carina Nebula – 6,500–10,000 light years from Earth

Structure of MatterUniversity of Toronto

ToK PresentationKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

• If we haven’t seen it, heard it, smelled it, touched it or tasted it – then we have had to accept it on authority

ToK PresentationKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

• We are more likely to accept something as true if we have confidence in the methods and motives of those who make the claim

ToK PresentationKnowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

• Knowledge by Authority is necessary and inevitable, but we should retain a degree of skepticism

“Skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found.” [Miguel de Unamuno, "Essays and Soliloquies," 1924]

ToK Presentation

Real-life situationArticle in ‘The Guardian’ newspaperon 26th September 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odprMkzOst8

Knowledge IssueTo what extent is what we know shaped by authority?(What evidence should we trust, and why?)

Conclusion…