Tok Essay
Niki Ahmadi
TOK Essay
January 20, 2013
The Possession of Knowledge Carries an Ethical Responsibility
“The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” The challenge in understanding this claim lies in its broadness. Stated as such without qualification, the statement has no real context and cannot be confirmed or disaffirmed with any solid justification. This is the nature of language: words in and of themselves do not come with a history behind their meaning, the various ways they have been used, and the context with which they are being used at the moment. Many of those qualities have to be surmised by the reader or listener.
The word “gay,” for example, has at least two different meanings: the original definition of “joyful” and the more recent definition of “homosexual.” Despite the stark contrast in definition, one can infer the meaning based on the contextual cues, such as the sentence in which the word is used, or the person who said the word. The problem, however, lies in counting on the reader to interpret the meaning of a phrase or word as it was intended, since the reader’s interpretation is subject to error.
Being half- Iranian, I understand that the cultural context behind a word also carries a lot of meaning. For example, the direct translation of “No, thank you” in Farsi is “ nah merci,” but the cultural context behind the phrase is different. If I were to say “No, thank you” when offered a piece of fruit, I would still end up getting a piece of fruit. That’s because in Iranian culture, saying “No, thank you” is just polite, but it does not actually mean “No.”
The term “knowledge”, as with most words, also holds a lot ambiguity, as there are many different types of knowledge: artistic/aesthetic knowledge, scientific knowledge, spiritual knowledge, pragmatic/practical knowledge, and more—each with its own niche in society. It’s important to identify these different categories of knowledge, because they all carry a different
TOK Essay
January 20, 2013
The Possession of Knowledge Carries an Ethical Responsibility
“The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” The challenge in understanding this claim lies in its broadness. Stated as such without qualification, the statement has no real context and cannot be confirmed or disaffirmed with any solid justification. This is the nature of language: words in and of themselves do not come with a history behind their meaning, the various ways they have been used, and the context with which they are being used at the moment. Many of those qualities have to be surmised by the reader or listener.
The word “gay,” for example, has at least two different meanings: the original definition of “joyful” and the more recent definition of “homosexual.” Despite the stark contrast in definition, one can infer the meaning based on the contextual cues, such as the sentence in which the word is used, or the person who said the word. The problem, however, lies in counting on the reader to interpret the meaning of a phrase or word as it was intended, since the reader’s interpretation is subject to error.
Being half- Iranian, I understand that the cultural context behind a word also carries a lot of meaning. For example, the direct translation of “No, thank you” in Farsi is “ nah merci,” but the cultural context behind the phrase is different. If I were to say “No, thank you” when offered a piece of fruit, I would still end up getting a piece of fruit. That’s because in Iranian culture, saying “No, thank you” is just polite, but it does not actually mean “No.”
The term “knowledge”, as with most words, also holds a lot ambiguity, as there are many different types of knowledge: artistic/aesthetic knowledge, scientific knowledge, spiritual knowledge, pragmatic/practical knowledge, and more—each with its own niche in society. It’s important to identify these different categories of knowledge, because they all carry a different