The theory of knowledge

1. INTRODUCTION TO YOUR NEW WORLD

2. Theory of Knowledge
Epistomology, the study of theory of knowledge,
is among the most important areas of philosophy,
ToK is a class of questions more than answers.....
The questions that it addresses include the
following:

3. What is Knowledge?
 There is a tradition that goes back as far as Plato
that holds that three conditions must be
satisfied in order for one to possess knowledge.
 You have to believe it.
 You must b able to justify youe belief--provide
some evidence for it.
 Your justified belief must be true as well.

4. The Tripartite Theory of Knowledge
Belief
The first condition for knowledge, according to the tripartite theory, is belief. Unless one believes a
thing, one cannot know it. Even if something is true, and one has excellent reasons for believing
that it is true, one cannot know it without believing it.
Truth
The second condition for knowledge, according to the trpartite theory, is truth, if on knows a thing
then it must be true. No matter how well justified or sincere a belief, if it is not true that it cannot
constitute knowledge. If a long-held belief is disovered to be false, then one must concede that
what known; knowledge must be knowledge of the truth
Justification
The third condition for knowledge is justification. In order to know a thing, it is not enogh to merely
correctly believe it to be true; one must also have a good reason for doing so. Lucky guesses cannot
constitute knowledge; we can only know what we have good reason to believe.

5. Let’s test Ploto’s theory
You Claim:
“I know that a circle has three corners”
1. Belief: Maybe you believe it...
2. Justify/provide evidence: But can you
justify it?
3. Is it true? If a statement is false(not true),
you cannot possibly know it...

6. From where do we get our Knowledge
 A second imortant issue in TOK concerns the ultimate source of our
knowledge.
 There are two traditions:
 Empiricism, which holds that our knowledge is primarily based in
experience, and
 Rationalism, which holds that our knowledge is primarily based in
reason. Although the modern scientific worldview borrows heavily
from empiricism, there are reasons for thinking that a synthesis of the
two traditions is more plausible than either of them individually

7. How are our beliefs justified?
 There are better and worse ways to form beliefs. In
general terns, it is important to consider evidence
when deciding what to believe, because by doing so
we are more likely to form beliefs that are true.
Precisely how this should work, when we are justified
in believing something and when we are not, opens
up new and more complex topics in the theory of
kowledge. We will get to those

8. How do we perceive the world around us?
Much of our knowledge, it seems, does come to us through our senses,
through perception.
Percption, through, is a complex process. The way that we experience
th world may be determined in part by the world, but it is also
determined in part by us. We do not passively receive information
through our senses; arguably, we contribute just as much to our
experiences as do the objects that they are experiences of.
How we are to understand the process of perception, and how this
should effect our understanding of the world that we inhibit, is
therefore vital for epistemology.

9. Do we know anything at all?
Philosophical skepticism:
Alongside the questions of what knowledge is and how we come to
acquire it is the question whether we do in fact know anything at all.
There is a long philosophical tradition that says that we do no, and the
arguments in support of this position, though resisted by most, are
remarkably difficult to refute.
The most persistent problem in the theory of knowledge is not wha
knowledge is or what is comes from, but whether there is any such
thing at all.

10. Knowing What and Knowing How
 Types of Knowledge
 Philosophers typically divide knowledge into three
categories: personal, procedural, and propositional.
Understanding the connections between the three
types of knowledge can be helpful in clearly
understanding what is and what is not being analyzed
by the various theories of knowledge.

11. Knowing What and Knowing How
 Personal Knowledge
 The first kind of knowledge is personal
knowledge, or knowledge by acquaintance.
This is the kind of knowledge that we are
claiming to have when we say things like ‘”I
Know Mozart’s music.”

12. Knowing What and Knowimng How
 Procedure Knowledge
The second kind of knowledge is procedural knowledge, or
knowledge how to do something. People who claim to know
how to juggle, or how to drive, are not simply claiming thqt
they understand the theory involved in those activities.
Rather, they are claiming that actually possess the skills
involved, that they are able to do these things.

13. Propositional Knowledge
 The third kind of knowledge, the kind that
philosophers care about most, is propositional
knowledge, or knowledge of facts. When we say
things like “I know that the internal angles of a
triangle add up to 180 degreed” or “ I know that it
was you that ate my sandwich,” we are claiming to
have propositional knowledge.

14. Knowing What and Knowing How
 Types of Knowledge
 Philosophers typically divide knowledge into three categories: personal, procedural, and propositional.
Understanding the connections between the three types of knowledge can be helpful in clearly understanding what
is and what is not being analyzed by the various theories of knowledge.
 Personal Knowledge
 The first kind of knowledge is personal knowledge, or knowledge by acquaintance. This is the kind of knowledge
that we are claiming to have when we say things like ‘”I Know Mozart’s music.”
 Procedure Knowledge
The second kind of knowledge is procedural knowledge, or knowledge how to do something. People who claim to
know how to juggle, or how to drive, are not simply claiming thqt they understand the theory involved in those
activities. Rather, they are claiming that actually possess the skills involved, that they are able to do these things.
 The third kind of knowledge, the kind that philosophers care about most, is propositional knowledge, or
knowledge of facts. When we say things like “I know that the internal angles of a triangle add up to 180 degreed”
or “ I know that it was you that ate my sandwich,” we are claiming to have propositional knowledge.

16. How Do We Know?
What counts as Knowledge?
How does it grow?
What are its limits?
Who owns knowledge?
what is the value of knowledge?
What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?

17. Theory of knowledge
The theory of knowledge (TOK) requirement is central to the educational philosophy of the Diploma programme.
It offers students and their teachers the opportunity to:
 reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge.
 consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world.
 In addition, it promotes students to:
• be aware of themeselves as thinkers, encouraging them to become more aquainted with the complexity of
knowledge
• Recognize the need to act responsibly is an increasingly interconnected but uncertain world.
• As a thoughtful and purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge, TOK is
composed almost entirely of questions. The most control of these is “how do we know?”
TOK also has an important role to play in providing coherence for the student as it transcend and link academic
subject areas, thus demonstrating the ways in which they can apply their knowledge with greater awareness and
credibility.

18. Welcome to TOK,
Theory of Knowledge
At the end of the course, we hope we will have achieved these goals
together - that you will be able to:
 think more clearly,
 argue more effectively,
 identify and explain what you think and why you think it,
 feel more secure, but much less arrogant or defenive about your
opinions,
 understand better and enjoy more the opinions of others, be more
aware and intrigued, but less unnerved by the “not yet known” and
“the unknowable” things in life.

19. KC’s and KI’s
 Knowledge claim is a logical aertion of truth.
 Knowledge issues are questions that directly refers to our
understanding of the world, ourselves an others, in connection with
the acquisition, search for, production, shaping and acceptance of
knowledge. These issues are intended to open to inquiry and to
explore not only problems but also strenghts of knowledge.

20. Terms to Keep, Consider, “Know”
 Epistemology
 Knower
 Ways of Knowing
 Areas of Knowledge
 Knowledge Claims
 Knowledge Issues
Add to list as we go..............