IB TOK Notes

Lucian Skerjanec
Date: 23/11/12
IB 11 TOK
Mr. Bryant

Theory of Knowledge IB 11 Semester 1 Test Review Guide

Propositional Knowledge and “Knowing That”
Plato and his students began studying knowledge by analyzing if it was valid.
They came to conclude that for knowledge to be certain, it must…
Can be described and communicated to anyone effectively and accurately.
It must be absolutely convincing to anyone you communicate with.
A “proposition” is a formal statement of convincing knowledge.
For example…
I know that the sum of two and two is four.
For many, including Plato, this seems to be the only acceptable type of knowledge.
The final question that Plato and his students asked was…
How can I be sure I know something?
Knowledge is justified true belief.
You must BELIEVE the statement.
What is belief?
It involved two components…
A belief contains a proposition formulated through natural language or some other symbol system. This is the “what” of your belief.
There is a psychological component. This involves the “attitude” and degree of “commitment” which you have towards your belief.
Your belief must be TRUE.
What is Truth?
That of which is true or in accordance to fact or reality.
Your true belief must be JUSTIFIED.
There must be evidence for justification.
Logic, the basis for much of our knowledge. a priori knowledge, knowledge derived from the function of reason without reference to sense experience…to know it prior to experiencing anything like it in the external world.
The truth of a priori knowledge…
Is not derived from sense experience.
Cannot be checked against sense experience.
Cannot be refuted by any sense experience.
Empirical Evidence
Regards the five senses, one of the main sources of our knowledge. a posteriori knowledge, knowledge derived from sense experience. It is regarded as certain.
Authority
You know that a fact because someone who is an authority on that particular subject has told you and you have a good reason to trust.

Procedural Knowledge and “Knowing How”
Not all knowledge you know falls into the category of propositional knowledge. Some knowledge we may possess cannot be easily communicated to another person.
This type of knowledge is procedural/imperative knowledge.
Also known as knowing how.

Personal Knowledge and “Knowing of”
The last type of knowledge is…
Personal knowledge, or knowledge by acquaintance.
Is to do with the sense of being familiar with something.
This type of knowledge does arguably involve possessing propositional knowledge, because it involves some experience.
However, personal knowledge involves more than knowledge of propositions. No matter how many facts you know about something, if you haven’t experienced it, then you do not “know” it, in the sense required for personal knowledge.
Further on…What is truth?
The quality of being true or correct according to some ground or test for establishing the reality of the statement….but what makes the statement true?
Truths that can be objectively known are called absolute truths.
According to objectivists, absolute truths are public, independent of anyone’s belief, and eternal.
Truth changes with our growth in knowledge, our understanding of truth changes, not truth.
Subjective truth is understood to be a truth that cannot be externally, objectively justified
Subjectivists believe that there are no absolute truths and that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as language or culture.
Truth is always based on the observer.
Three “Tests” of Truth
Correspondence Theory
This theory is promulgated by the Realist School of Philosophy.
A claim is true if what it refers to exists. In other words, a proposition is true if it corresponds to a fact.
The sense of truth that is most commonly encountered in daily life and in physical sciences.
Criticisms…
Requires existence of “ghostly” facts to which true statements are supposed to correspond.
Because there is a gap between language and the world, correspondence can never be perfect.
We cannot determine the truth or falsity of a proposition in isolation from other propositions.
Coherence Theory
This theory is promulgated by the Idealist School of Philosophy.
A claim is true if it is logically consistent with other statements accepted as true, and false if it is not. Truth is dependent on other truths. In other words, a proposition is true if it fits in with our overall set of beliefs.
This sense of truth is encountered in science and common sense.
Criticisms…
Coherence is not sufficient for truth. A fairy tale may be perfectly coherent, but it is a fairy tale.
With a little ingenuity, any “crazy” belief can be made coherent.
A knowledge claim that does not fit in with your way of thinking might still be true.
Pragmatic Theory
This theory is promulgated by the Pragmatic School of Philosophy.
A claim is true if it works or has practical results, such as controlled or predictive value, or if it stimulates creative inquiry, or resolves problems in science and everyday life. Truth depends on subjective experience. In other words, a proposition is true if it is useful or works in practice.
This sense of truth is accepted by some scientists and philosophers, but can seem at odd with common sense.
Criticisms…
A proposition can be true but not useful, and useful but not true.
The pragmatic theory implies that two contradictory beliefs could both be true.
The words “useful” and “works in practice” are too vague to get us very far.
Sense Perception
We have five connections to the world…
Eyes
Ears
Noses
Tongues
Skin
Perception means “opinion judged on your own experience”.
Perception creates an interpretation of something, and it is different in every individual.
Our brain relies on information it already possesses to interpret what you sense. This interpretation can distort “reality”.
Ways your brain can be misled…
Through past experience
Often conditions you to expect things.
We often see, hear, taste, smell, and feel what we expect rather than what really happens.
Through social and cultural conditioning
Prejudices and assumptions learned from school, parents, and society often lead us to draw false conclusions.
Through Spatial Familiarity
Our brains want us to see shapes with which we are already familiar.
Through our biological limitations
We can only perceive what our sense and nervous systems are capable of perceiving.
Through our existing learning structures
How we use our brains to create new knowledge may hinder our perception.
Through dependence on language structures
The words we use as labels for ideas and objects influences the way we think about them.
Through filtering
Our senses receive much more information that we are capable of processing. We filter out much of this information and accept only which is understandable or of interest at the moment.
Through self perception
Our perception of ourselves is probably very different from the perception others have of us. How we think of ourselves will influence our perception of ourselves in relationship to others.
Through seeing what is not there
We are still not sure what happens in our brains when we are face with optical illusions. If something is not there, how can we perceive it?
What is a Knowledge Issue?
Is anything that can be approached from a TOK point of view.
Knowledge issues can apply to any aspect of knowledge and may refer to the acquisition, production, shaping, classification, status, and acceptance or rejection of knowledge.
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Logic is…
Not the science of the laws of thought.
Not the science of reasoning.
It is the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish good or correct reasoning (valid) from bad or incorrect reasoning (invalid).
Inductive Logic
Is the reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn from specific examples, from which a generalization is made. The conclusion does not follow with absolute necessity.
“All of my English classes have been interesting so far. Therefore, my next English class will be interesting.”
Not concerned with the absolute certainty of an argument.
It gives good reasons/empirical evidence for supporting a conclusion but it does not guarantee that conclusion.
The reliability of the empirical evidence on which we base our conclusions determines the soundness of the argument.
Deductive Logic
Is the reasoning in which a general rule is applied to a specific example. It is concerned with the rules, which help determine when an argument is valid.
All men are mortal.
Aristotle is a man.
Therefore, Aristotle is mortal.
In deductive logic, a syllogism is an argument that consists of three lines. The last line is the conclusion and the first two lines are propositions.
When propositions are used in a syllogism, they are referred to as premises (singular, premise).
Deductive reasoning does not concern itself with the truth at all- only with the process of reasoning. It produces knowledge based on reason rather than experience.
In logic, we are concerned with the logical form of an argument rather than the content of its propositions.
Statements can therefore be valid or invalid.
Formal and Informal Fallacies
A fallacy is a failure in reasoning that leads to an argument being invalid.
Formal Fallacy
Some IB students study History.
John is an IB student.
Therefore, John is studying history
This is a fallacy because although we can say that it is possible that John is studying history, we cannot say that with certainty, because only some IB students study History. Therefore, there is a problem with the logic of the structure.
Informal Fallacy
TOK teaches people how to argue.
People argue all the time.
Therefore, people don’t need to study TOK.
This is a fallacy because the meaning of the word “argue” is different in the first and second line, so the argument is built on an incorrect meaning.
Emotion as an Obstacle to Knowledge
Irrational behavior = emotions can distort our beliefs but also lead us to make poor decisions.
Stoicism = Ancient Greek Philosophy, ideal is to look at the world in a balanced and objective way.
Emotions as a Source of Knowledge
According to Dr. Damasio, emotions help us to make rational decisions about things by narrowing down our options so that we can choose between a manageable number of them.
With no emotions, we try to decide what to do based on reason alone and end up experiencing a kind of mental paralysis.
Basic emotions…
Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Surprise
Disgust
James - Lange Theory
Primary emotions typically have a facial expression.
Close connection between our faces and our bodies.
Emotions are of physical nature; bodily changes come before and cause emotional changes.
If you remove the physical symptoms, the emotion disappears. (Today this is deemed incorrect)
If you minimize the physical symptoms, you can generate the corresponding emotion.
This theory ignores the fact that emotions are mental as well as physical.
Emotions can be affected by our beliefs.
Otherwise, what would be the difference between humans and animals?
Cannon – Bard Theory
A disapproving response to the James – Lange Theory.
Emotion and physiological responses occur simultaneously (fear).
Two Factor Theory
The “Schactner – Singer Theory” is a cognitive theory of emotion
Human emotion has two components…
Physiological arousal.
Cognition (conscious understanding of the arousal).
This is the Cannon – Bard Theory taken to the next step.
Social Emotions
These emotions stem from beliefs.
A change in beliefs can result in a change in the emotional response.
Reason vs. Emotion
They exist as a continuum of mental activity from very rational to very emotional.
Emotions can be rational, such as fear at sight of a snake, or irrational.
Two – Factor Theory Applied…

 Stimulus (physical response)
Stimulus  Perception  Context Emotional Response
Fallacious Reasoning = making hasty generalization bias.
Emotive Language
Abstract concepts.
Different language
Natural vs. Educational Intuition
Natural Intuition
Based on instinct.
Educational Intuition
Can be altered through education.
Stems from prior learning.
Social Intuitions
Intuitions about other people.
What do you feel about people?
Reliability
Everything except natural intuition is very reliable.
Although we teach intuition in emotion, they are still separate.
What is Language?
Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.
Is uniquely human
Communicates
Uses symbols
Vagueness
The meaning of some words is dependent on context.
Ambiguity
Many words and phrases are ambiguous – they are open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations.
Secondary Meaning
Words have a primary meaning, known as the denotation.
They also have secondary meaning known as connotations.
Sometimes we use words or phrases with acceptable connotations, known as euphemisms, to replace harsh words.
Metaphor
Language is also used metaphorically.
Irony
Humans have the interesting ability to say one thing and mean another.
Language as a Way of Knowing
The man characteristics of language are intention, creativity, and open-endedness.
A language is a system speakers agree on to use by making an infinite number of statements with the limited number of sounds and structural rules at their disposal.
Sign is Arbitrary
A sign can be oral as a series of sound (called phonemes) or written as a word spelled a certain way but also any other sign including stylized signs originating in drawings.
There are several sets of rules that govern language…
Official normalization process: academies, office of language etc…
Collective norms: social groups, regionalisms, language registers…
Personal: language tics, personal style…
Signifier
Sounds and graphics.
Signified
Concept and Idea
Language and Meaning
Definition Theory
Meaning is what can be expressed by a definition, thus periphrases in order to approach meaning.
Simply, expressing an idea when you don’t have the word.
Critics…
Eventually, every word is defined by other words, themselves defined by words, so that meaning appears to be relative to other meanings depending on other meanings to be defined indefinitely.
Denotation Theory
Meaning is a significant reality corresponding to the meaningful sign.
Meaning is related to something in reality.
Critics…
Corresponding to reality implies the ability to representing the meaning, which can be difficult with abstract or complex concepts.
Only the reality that is acknowledged by the speakers of a language will be given a sign that restrict reality in language, hence the reality of the speakers.
Image Theory
Meaning is the mental image of the signified.
What you think.
Critics…
Can images be not only visual but based on other senses?
Speakers may be obliged to imagine a mental image of something impossible, like an oxymoron.
Ambiguity
Language can be…
Vague: Words are defined relatively to others, like close, long-time ago, hard work…
Polysemic: Words can have more than one meaning, like car, bank, book, crane…
Connoted: Words can imply secondary more emotional meaning, like pig…
Metaphorical: Words can be used figuratively, like in poetic language.
Does language determine our thoughts or do we think independently of language?
No it doesn’t determine our thoughts…
Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar states that…
Humans all have an innate ability to deal with language.
This a priori knowledge of language is called universal grammar. It must be the same for all human kind.
Language is in that case a specific system of signs but only on the surface.
Deep in every language, there must be universal grammar.
Thoughts do not necessarily have to be linked to language as pure thinking could be seen as the expression of human universal cognitive ability, like a “think-talk” or “thought-language”.
Yes it does determine our thoughts…
Sapir – Whorf Hypothesis.
Determinism: language determines the way we perceive reality and we can only access knowledge of reality that is inherent to our language system of categorization. (not popular)
Relativism: Thoughts are only possible along the lines of the language, thus excluding reality not included in the language encoding of reality. (more popular)
To the extreme…
Speakers of a language would not be able to understand concepts that are not expressed in that given language.
There would be an inherent limitation to the power of thoughts, as no one would be able to free himself from the language restrictions of thoughts.
In moderate form…
Speakers of a language are lead into preconceived concepts when thinking but making the effort to think outside the box allows taking advantage of the open-endedness of language and expanding the limitation of linguistic relativism.
There is interdependence between the level of relevance of a meaning in a culture and its presence in the language. The more relevant the concept, the more dominant the words for it and the force of attraction in reasoning in the language will be.