How can the different ways of knowing help us to distinguish between something that is true and something that is believed to be true?

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Pooja Pandey                                                                                                            Munich International School                                    

 IB - Theory of Knowledge - Essay

Munich International School

By: Pooja Pandey

IB Year 2 - May 2010

Candidate Number: 00169 - 056

Word Count: 1587

Date: 25 January 2010

Supervisor: Mr. Joshi

How can the different ways of knowing help us to distinguish between something that is true and something that is believed to be true?

Truth is relative, absolute, objective, subjective etc, many great philosophers have tried to define truth like Plato with his correspondence theory. This theory states that true beliefs and true statements usually correspond to reality, this a very traditional model which was popular with Plato. Since, there are so many definitions and theories of truth, there isn't really a real definition for truth but all these theories are correct because they cannot be proven wrong. However, we all know that truth exists, and it can be explained through the many different ways of knowing which are: emotion, reason, perception and language which are used by us in our day to day lives. However, there is a difference between believing something is true like religion which changes from person to person and it being true in real life such as facts like math; I have divided truth into two main parts: subjective and objective. To support these I have accompanied each of the ways of knowing with examples from various areas of knowledge mainly using math, science, language and history.

Truth can be divided into two separate entities: subjective and objective. Objective truth is usually a fact that has been proven true, meaning it has been discovered through science or math rather then created. Empiricism arises from sensory experience and relies heavily on experimentation and evidence, which is used predominantly in science. Empiricism is a fundamental part of the scientific method where all the hypothesis and theories should be tested against observations in the natural world. These truths are usually static and final, and are true all across the world. For example, 1 plus 1 will always equal 2 no matter where we are, same in facts from Natural Science such as gravity on earth is always be . The first objective truth is:

Existence exists with or without the existence of consciousness to witness it”

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 The second objective truth is:

“For a consciousness to witness the first truth, it must be true that it exists “

Descartes summed up these two thoughts in his quote “Cogito, ergo sum” or “I think, therefore i am “. This explains that objective truth can only exist after it has been proven to be true through math, science or any other way. By saying “Cogito, ergo sum”, Descartes tries to prove that the existence of truth needs validation. On the other hand, subjective truth is usually more concerned with a person´s way of thinking. Subjective truths are ...

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