The Theory of Knowledge
Chapter 1
Introduction to Knowledge
Introduction to the Theory of
Knowledge
• What is TOK about?
– Socrates said it many years ago. “The
unexamined life is not worth living”
– TOK is about examination of the world around
us
TOK is about understanding
How we know what we know
• What makes up the things we
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think of as knowledge?
When we know something how
do we know it is even really
true?
It helps us examine our lives
and helps us be critical of
“knowledge claims” which are
not actually knowledge but
instead only belief, opinion,
propaganda, and even deceit
Lesson One
What do we know?
• Knowledge Claims are claims
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made by someone when they
say they know something
The world we know is made
completely up of knowledge
claims
How do we know it these
knowledge claims are
representative of reality?
Consider History
• Historical artefacts are
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silent; they tell us
nothing
It is we that interpret a
meaning onto them
Whatever affects these
interpretations will also
affect any knowledge
claims being made
Is this view of
prevalent
and common
human sacrifice
among the Aztecs
truly warranted?
The world view: How the cosmos
are structured
• How many seconds in
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an hour?
How many seconds in
a day?
How long is one million
seconds?
How long is one billion
seconds?
32 years a long time
How do we know what the universe
is like?
• Have we discovered for
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ourselves?
How does science answer
the questions about the
origin of the universe?
What came before the big
bang?
How can science ever hope
to give us the answers?
Is time even real?
Reality?
• How do we know?
• Why is our reality more real than realities of
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people in the past?
Very much of our reality is based on faith in
scientific claims
We believe in a reality
People before believed in a different reality. It
was different but it was just as real to them
Are we really any closer to getting to the whole,
complete, real picture of how things really are?
Lesson 2: Understanding Basic
Concepts
(Sound Reasons for Claiming Knowledge)
Theory of Knowledge is just that, a
theory
• It is not called the “facts of knowledge”
• There is not one answer to questions
regarding knowledge countless theories
about what knowledge actually is
• The nature of knowledge is so that a
human beings’ subjective perspective of
the world will, to some degree, influence
what he or she calls knowledge
Plato: Knowledge is Justified True
Belief
• P must be true.
• I believe P
• I have sound reasons for believing P. I
need a type of justification
• I have no evidence that negates or
erodes my belief in P
Sound Reasons for Knowledge
• Justifications for calling something
knowledge
Perception
• A sound reason for
knowledge is simply our
perception
• Our sight, hearing, feeling,
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taste and smell
“seeing is knowing”
Can be mistaken but
generally a very sound
reason
Vase or Faces?
Self-Awareness
• How do you know we like
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whatever we like?
Self awareness is such an
inherent part of our everyday
lives
This knowledge requires no
proof or any other form of
empirical backing
It is very strong subjective
knowledge
Some say that yellow stands for
self-awareness.
What do you think?
• Memories are a sound
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reason for knowledge
because we can be sure of
them most of the time
We know things on account
of our memories
Because something is a
“sound” reason for
knowledge, it does not
necessarily mean it is
always, 100% of the time
What is this thing? Someone knew once.
Deduction
• This is one of the very
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important words and
concepts in TOK
Deduction is making
conclusions based on
premises that are known
to be true
• Deduction is the basis
for all mathematics
Is this deduction?
Does he/she have knowledge?
Induction
• induction is another
extremely important term for
TOK and our lives in general
• Induction is claiming
knowledge about future events
based on past experiences
• Science and the scientific
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method is based heavily upon
induction
There is no physical law that
states that just because
something has in the past, that
it will necessarily happen any
time again in the future
How do we know this will happen tomorrow?
Authority
• Very much of the knowledge
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we have today we have
because an Authority has told
us
We either consciously choose
to believe a knowledge claim
or we simply accept the
knowledge because an
authority we respect has
presented us with the
information
– Textbooks
– Media etc.
Pope John XIII
Consensus
• Consensus or Consensus
gentium is basing knowledge
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on the fact that everyone, or at
least most people agree that
something is knowledge
Consensus plays a significant
role in many different aspects
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moral values
Scientific discoveries
Historical claims
Mathematical proof
Political ideology
How much of what we know is because
many people think it is right?
Intuition
• Intuition is a feeling, an
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inherent understanding.
Intuition makes us know
about something internal; a
way of thinking or
perceiving something
Even if the intuition is not
reflective of reality, it is still
knowledge for the individual
on the individual level
Seeing Red
Michele Benzamin-Miki
Revelation
• Easily argued that
Revelation is not a good
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reason for claiming
knowledge
However revelation is
responsible for much of
the knowledge that many
people hold dear today
– religious
– ethical
• Can be knowledge on a
subjective level.
Is something being revealed from above?
Faith
• We should avoid
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equating the concept of
faith with the conviction
felt in religious
experience
Faith is intertwined with
knowledge to a much
greater extent
Much of the knowledge we
claim to know comes to us
on account of faith in the
claims
Faith is a central concept in
TOK
Is there anything that moves mankind
more than faith?
Lesson 3
Certainty, a Foundation for
Knowledge or an Outcome of it?
• Foundationalism
• Pragmatism
• Two contrasting ideas for what knowledge
is based upon
Foundationalism
• The concept of foundationalism states that
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something is knowledge if and only if we are
100% certain of it
Knowledge comes when on reaches this
subjective state of mind
Knowledge=Truth, but Truth≠Knowledge
Knowledge comes when one can not possibly
imagine that he is incorrect
Certainty is the basis, or forundation of
knowledge
Foundationalism (contd.)
• Foundatonal knowledge claims are generally
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subjective knowledge claims
Knowledge based on elements such as selfawareness, memory, perception, and emotion
are types of foundational knowledge
Deduction can also be a type of foundational
knowledge
Foundational knowledge does not need to be
quantified or supported by others for it to be
knowledge to the individual knowing the fact
Pragmatism
• The perspective of pragmatism asserts
that something is knowledge if and only if
the proposed bit of knowledge works in
real life settings.
• We do not know anything until we see
that it works
• Knowledge is power. It must allow us to
do something
Pragmatism (contd.)
• Scientific knowledge is pragmatic knowledge. If a
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scientist can not show that her hypothesis works, then
her hypothesis is disregarded
People such as Engineers, mechanics, and pilots all know
their professions when they can do what they are
supposed to do
According to the pragmatist, we have knowledge when it
allows us to sucessfully navigate through our
environment.
We become certain of something only when we first
know it; when it works.
Certainty is an outcome of knowledge, not a basis for it
Lesson 4
Is Truth and Reality Subjective?
Subjectivism vs.
Representationalism
• The subjectivist believes there is no true
reality. Any so-called reality that there is,
is based upon peoples experiences
• The representationalistsargue that here is
a reality; all we have to do is open our
eyes to see it. If something is true it is
true because corresponds with the reality
around us.
Subjectivism
• Something is true is if it
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relates to someone’s
experience in a way that they
can understand and relate to
it
“Memories buy weightless
kilograms of ideas.” Is this
statement a reality? It is not a
reality because no one can
relate to it
Reality is subjective because
it depends on ones ability to
relate to something
Is this actually sweet?
Representationalism
• A representation is
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something which gives us
information about another
thing or one thing that stands
for another thing
True in representationalist
terms, is a property of a
representation that
corresponds to the real world
or corresponds with fact
Beliefs or subjective states of
mind have no bearing on
reality. Reality is what it is.
This is not how an egg is fried
Regardless of what one believes.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
• We can only know things from our own
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perspective
Reality is a subjective experience because we
are limited and confined to our own human way
of seeing things
Like a person that has never left a cave and can
therefore never know any other reality, so too
are people. They see things from the
perspective of their own “cave”
Meditations on First Philosophy
• “cogito ergo sum” I think
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therefore I am
Scepticism
Nothing can be known
except one’s own existence
There is no way to know if
there is a reality
We can not escape our
subjective outlook on life to
know anything away from
ourselves or the way we
know things
Rene Descartes 1596-1650
Lesson 5
What they will have to do
• One essay 1200-1600 words on one of ten
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prescribed topics
Never change any aspect of the topic.
But, if you want a good essay prepare to write a 1600
word essay. 33% more can be said in a 1600 word essay
than can be in a 1200 word essay.
The essay is 70% of the final grade. The essay is graded
externally
One Presentation.
About 10 minutes long. Graded by the teacher.
On a “contemporary isssue”
The presentation is 30% of the grade