Ways of Knowing: TOK
WOK
Ways of Knowing
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How do we know something?
For TOK they divide it down into 4 categories
Language
Perception
Reason
Emotion
What is Language?
Consider
• Language is rule governed
• Language is intended
• Language is creative and open ended
Language is rule governed
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Quan
Koira
Kutta
Madra
Inu
Gae
Hund
Why does Dog mean dog?
Why do we visualize a dog when we say these 3
letters
• These are the tribe rules
Language is intended
Language is Intended
• You are in class, the teacher is writing on the
board, you catch someone's eye and make a
yawning gesture by putting you hand to your
mouth
• You try to look interested when the teacher is
talking you but yawn by accident
• Which of the above can be described as
language
Language is Creative and open-ended
• “The wise cow seeks shelter from the snow
at dusk”
• Make up a wise saying that has never been
said before
• Is sign language a language?
• 3 minutes
• Do animals have language?
• 3 minutes
The problem of Meaning
• We get our a lot of our knowledge in the form
of language
• Lots of problems here
• What is a meaningful word and what is not
• 3 main theories
Meaning of words: Definition theory
• Meaning is to be found in a dictionary
• How would you describe this
• The meaning of a work and its dictionary
meaning may be incorrect.
Meaning of words :Denotation theory
• Found in the world
• i.e. France
• What about abstract words like
– Freedom
– wisdom
Meaning of words :Image Theory
• You have an image in you head when speaking
the word it is meaningful
• Problem here is that the image in you head
may be different to the next person
All 3 theories have problems
• Therefore the Know How theory
– You know the meaning of a word if you know how
to use it
Language at war
Warspeak
Security assistance
Neutralize
NO longer a factor
Take out
Inoperative combat personnel
Pacification
Service a target
Collateral damage
Friendly fire
Strategic redeployment
Liberate
Reporting guidelines
Pre emptive
Ethnic cleansing
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Arms Sales
Kill
Dead
Dead Soldiers
Bombing
Dropping bombs on a target
Bombed cities
Firing on your own troops
Retreat
Invade
Censorship
Unprovoked
Genocide
Language to influence and persuade
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Terrorist/ freedom fighter
Pro life / pro choice
Genetically modified food/ Frankenstein
Free speech / hate speech
Department of War/ Department of
Defense 1947
Weasel Words
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Our product can restore up to 25% of lost hair
Probably the best larger in the world
Dentifresh toothpaste helps fight tooth decay
If Timothy works hard he should do himself
justice in the final exam
• Find the weasel works in the above
Language and Translation
• What would be the advantage and
disadvantage if everyone in the world spoke a
single common language?
• What would be gained by this and what would
be lost?
2nd Language
• “Who does not know another language does
not know his own”
• Goethe 1749-1832
• What can you learn about your own language
by studying a second language
• 10 minutes in groups
Key points for today
• A great deal of our knowledge comes
through language
• Language is
– Rule governed
– Intended
– Creative
• Meaning of words is a matter of know how
• Weasel Words
• Language and translation
WOK
•Ways of Knowing
•4 Ways