"We see and understand things not as they are but as we are" IB TOK Essay

The first 200 words of this essay...

"We see and understand things not as they are but as we are" Discuss this claim in relation to at least two ways of knowing.

An essay on the Theory of Knowledge

anna¸

6.11.2009

Word count: 1,600

Our world is unfathomably complex. The segments that each of us is familiar with and has some understanding of, are but the size of the electrons of a single molecule in a great ocean of dilemmas. Every "thing", that is to say, every entity, idea, or quality perceived, known, or thought to have its own existence1, has infinite forces acting upon it and we, the human populace of this world, cannot ever hope to fully comprehend even a single such Kantian "Ding an sich". Instead we rely upon what, as Socrates would have it, we think we know; the few "facts", perceptions, opinions and insights that we have acquired through our own sensual experiences and those of others that we may have heard. These are the factors that colour our thoughts and consequent opinions of "things". They are the factors that build up who we are and it is by them that we assess, interpret and judge the various