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What is ToK?

What do we know?How do we know it?

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Fact

Belief

Opinion

Information Prejudice

EvidenceTruth

Knowledge

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The Raw Material

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What is ToK?

“I think that ...”“I believe that ...”“I know that ...”

What’s the difference?

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• What does it mean to know something in maths, science, history, arts, ethics…?

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• Are these the same kinds off knowledge? Why or why not?

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• Where does this knowledge come from and how secure is it?

Beliefs Reality

KnowledgeKnowledge = justified, true belief

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• Believe strongly with good reasons• Debate pros and cons• Deduce consequences• Generalize with care and caution• Identify assumptions• Make responsible ethical decisions

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Knowledge Claims:• It’s 10km from RCN to Dale• The earth is flat• Water is 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Oxygen• Climate changed is man-made• E=mc• The sky is blue• Barack Obama is a good president• Barack Obama is a good man

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What is ToK?

How reliable are our truth/knowledge claims?

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What is ToK?

How can enquiry be conducted so that it will lead towards

truth and knowledge rather than error and ignorance?

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Ways of Knowing:

Reason, Language,Emotion, Sense Perception

• Memory• Expert Testimony (Authority)• Imagination

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Knowledge Issues:

• Questions that help guide us towards reliable knowledge

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Knowledge Issues:

• Factors that prevent us from shaping reliable knowledge

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• It’s 10km from RCN to Dale• The earth is flat• Water is 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Oxygen• Climate changed is man-made• E=mc• The sky is blue• Barack Obama is a good president• Barack Obama is a good man

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Factors that prevent us from shaping reliable knowledge …

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What we will be doing this term:• Areas of Knowledge

o Mathso Natural Scienceso Human Scienceso Historyo Artso Ethics

• The Essay• The Presentation