Socratic dialogueAre reason and logic purely objective and universal, or do they vary across cultures?

Nov 3, 2011 TOK Dolly Huang . Are reason and logic purely objective and universal, or do they vary across cultures Susan. Have you ever noticed that logic and reason is purely based on cultures? Frank. What do you mean? I thought that logic is just logic. There are many ways you can think about this and defines for the definition of logic and reasons. For example, I believed that logic is the common sense of how people react to knowledge or things that they have experienced. However, you could also say that logic is a way to show reasoning in speeches and actions. Until a certain extent; people will be able to think rationally. We try to think the same way as others do and to empathize and sympathize with them. That is why we all can come to a common, universal answer, which becomes our common sense. Susan. Well why do we have wars then? If we all think the same way, then we would have world peace and people should live happily ever after. But that is not our reality. We have social problems: racism, poverty, and powerful weapons that could have easily destroyed our planet. Frank. We don't have to believe in the same thing but we can think in the same way. Do you think that we should care for our environment? Susan. Yes, of course. Frank. Do you recycle? Susan. No, that is not my job, the cleaners will sort out the trash at school and at home. Frank. So, in recent

  • Word count: 1187
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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History is part myth, part hope and part reality. Discuss the validity of the quote and its implications in the overall importance of knowing history. Replace the word history with two other areas of knowledge and compare the

IB Theory of Knowledge 05/08/2011 "History is part myth, part hope and part reality." Discuss the validity of the quote and its implications in the overall importance of "knowing" history. Replace the word history with two other areas of knowledge and compare the validity of the new statement. Word Count: 1379 Beyond the conception that history is just the study of the past, history is the study of the causes and consequences of events that somehow shaped the present and future of humanity. A key part in the definition of this important area of knowledge is recognizing that History is an analysis of social degree, meaning that it deals specifically with humanity and the infinite social and cultural factors that compose it. These factors, such as religion, nationalism, wealth and others, shape the way each individual views an specific event in History, which makes the recollection of facts, testimonies and evidence itself to be somewhat unreliable. In more concrete words, we can deduce that History is an area of knowledge that is much more subjective and analytical, so it gives more space to interpretation, bias, inclusion of emotion, all variables which lead us to the question, to what extent is the study of history affected by perception, emotion and the social nature of humans? This question and the previous analysis of history make the quote "History is part myth,

  • Word count: 1473
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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What is Language? To be honest, I had never thought of it as a whole. Language envelops us, its all around. Prior to my recent encounters with language, I had thought to myself, theres no possible way language is the most important Way of

Language can be interpreted in so many ways that I had never even thought of. Throughout the lesson, my perspective on it has changed. We've all looked at language, as in English or Japanese, books or novels and various things are written on them but then comes the question. What is Language? To be honest, I had never thought of it as a whole. Language envelops us, it's all around. Prior to my recent encounters with language, I had thought to myself, there's no possible way language is the most important Way of Knowing. Oh, how very wrong I was. How would we be able to think if there was no language to think in? Body language is a language too, isn't it? Language is a great part of life, and as a person, everybody will be using language in multiple ways throughout the duration of even a single day. The odd thing is, you would believe it to be easy to explain as it is such a great part of us, but as it is difficult to describe any colour to a blind person, it is difficult to fully define 'language'. In class, we talked about how language can completely alter the meaning of something. Language and messages may differentiate from one another ie, a translation of an English joke might be lost in translation (such as Spongebob, the humorous bits are often lost), or how people of whom speak different languages interpret sayings in different manners ie break a leg cannot be

  • Word count: 525
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Ensayo sobre "Contact"

U.E. Academia Washington Asignatura: Teoría del Conocimiento Prof.: Donato Ficarella Ensayo sobre "Contact" Michelle Bracht Claudia Guevara 4to año "A" Miércoles, 2 de diciembre de 2009 "Contact" es una película de ciencia ficción de 1997 dirigida por Robert Zemeckis y protagonizada por Jodie Foster en rol de Eleanor Arroway. Ellie Arroway (una científica que está buscando señales extraterrestres) perdió a sus padres a muy temprana edad, pero no antes de establecer una relación muy intima con su padre que la llevo a ser científica. El Doctor David Drumlin, que era su antiguo profesor cancela su investigación ya que la consideraba una pérdida de tiempo y dinero. Ellie busca de aluna manera ayuda para seguir con su investigación y de manera satisfactoria la consigue gracias al millonario S.R. Hadden. Luego de un tiempo se detecta un mensaje extraterrestre que proviene de la estrella Vega. De esa manera, se creó una máquina para poder ir a investigar si lo que se había encontrado era cierto. Creando mucha controversia por la creación de la maquina pero se construyó con mucha ayuda. Al concluir la creación de dicha maquina se comienza una discusión de quien debería de ser el pasajero; durante la preparación para el despegue de la maquina un fanático religioso consigue entrar hacia esa zona donde hace estallar una bomba, destrozando todo el

  • Word count: 928
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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TOK Discuss the theories that claim the 1969 Apollo Moon Landing was either a hoax or reality.

Discuss the theories that claim the 1969 Apollo Moon Landing was either a hoax or reality. Over the past several decades, the 1969 moon landings have raised significant arguments over the idea that they were faked. I shall explore the knowledge issues and different theories in considerable depth to acquire both an understanding and opinion over this issue. It is a difficult matter though, in fact the moon landing conspiracies could be considered as a pseudoscience. A pseudoscience can be defined as a theory, methodology, or practice that is considered to be without scientific foundation (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pseudoscience). This relates to the moon landings as numerous conspiracy theories do use "faulty" science to justify that they were hoaxed, thus they have been labeled as pseudoscientific claims. An example of these pseudoscientific claims would be that a flag is planted by the astronaut and from our sense perception (from images, videos ect.) it looks as if it is blowing in the wind, as a flag would on earth. Yet there is neither atmosphere nor air on the moon, so how can this be? From deductive reasoning we can apply the principle that for a flag to wave the general rules of physics and aerodynamics apply; that airflow can potentially give any object lift, for example a plane. As there is no atmosphere on the moon there is therefore no weather, so the flag

  • Word count: 544
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Assess the claim that 'we value art because it expresses the feelings of the artist'. (30)

Assess the claim that 'we value art because it expresses the feelings of the artist'. (30) The theory that we value art because it expresses the feelings of the artist is one held by those who believe in what is called 'emotivism' - art is valued because of its emotional impact (on the audience), whether that comes from our own personal reaction, the artwork acting as a 'container' for the artists emotion (implying that the emotion we feel is the same as the artists upon creation) or the artwork 'capturing' the emotion by sharing what it is like to feel it (like a metaphor). According to this theory, a 'good' artist is in touch with their emotions and can channel them [into artwork]. We feel our emotion when we experience artwork, and good artworks are those which give us an effective feeling. These emotions are the same as emotions that we may feel elsewhere in life, but art somehow uses them in a different way. Aristotle raises the idea of catharsis, which is the idea that we (us personally and the artist) use art as a way to experience emotion in a 'safe' way. As an example, when I watch a sad film the sadness I feel is 'purged' from my system without me having to feel sadness in the real world. Thus, even a negative emotion can have a positive effect on the audience. On the other hand, Tolstoy and Collingwood have a different point of view and state that we appreciate

  • Word count: 1534
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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TOK Mathematics and Sciences Essay

Mathematicians have the concept of rigorous proof, which leads to knowing something with complete certainty. Consider the extent to which complete certainty might be achievable in mathematics and the natural sciences. At first thought, mathematics and the natural sciences appear to be the two areas of knowledge that are most likely to contain absolute certainty. The concept of rigorous proof which is found in mathematics is a process in which an attempt is made to find contradictions in a mathematical proof. If contradictions are not found, it is then concluded that the final statement that was investigated is completely certain. However, mathematical proofs are often based on some statements which are assumed to be true to begin with. In the natural sciences, it is often assumed that statements which are supported by scientific knowledge have to be correct. For example, if you encouraged someone to eat oranges because the Vitamin C in it is healthy, they will only eat it if numerous scientific experiments have been conducted to support your claim. Mathematics is linked to reasoning, suggesting that mathematical proofs provide complete certainty. In addition, the natural sciences and mathematics are both supported by numbers, which makes them more accurate in terms of certainty than other areas of knowledge such as ethics. However, in science, it is difficult to achieve

  • Word count: 1557
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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In his work, Confucius represents wisdom through the way of being (concerning Ren) and through living in the world of thousand things (concerning Li).

How and what way Ren and Li are interdepended Nowadays many people try to possess understanding of wisdom through different ways. Some people read books and tries to understand deep meaning of it, another ones watches movies, the other ones possess it through own experience and so on. There were a few philosophers who could develop such a difficult topic as wisdom. To my mind, the best who tried to identify the meaning of the wisdom is Confucius. In his work, Confucius represents wisdom through "the way of being" (concerning Ren) and through "living in the world of thousand things" (concerning Li). To be Ren means to be humane and to be Li means to be in accordance with your rites. His work analects of Confucius, gives a good topics to discover the meaning of wisdom. Confucius tried to show us the relationship between Ren and Li and how it is important for all human beings. Book 7, 25: "The master instructs under four heads: culture, moral conduct, doing ones best, and being trustworthy in what one says." In my opinion, this actual quotation describes what Ren is. To be Ren means to be humane according to people who surround you. This is relationship between you and your parents, you and your friends, you and your colleges and so on. To be Ren means to fell kind to people who are around you. For instance, when your parents become old you take care of them, because they

  • Word count: 1398
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Compare and contrast any two different ways of knowing cats. Is it possible to give any preferential status to one particular way?

Ahana Nanavati TOK 11c October 7, 2003 Compare and contrast any two different ways of knowing cats. Is it possible to give any preferential status to one particular way? Knowledge by definition is facts, feelings or experiences known by a person or a group of people1. It is awareness, consciousness, or familiarity gained by experience or learning. It is erudition learning. There are various ways of knowing. The categorized ways of knowing include emotion, reason, language and perception. Emotion is derived from the body, within the heart, which gives human beings the capacity to respond to knowledge imaginatively. Reason and logic are derived from empirical evidence. Language is the tool with which humans communicate knowledge. It is also a tool of thought. Lastly, perception is the knowledge or understanding gained through the uses of the five senses. Scientific inquiry lies under the category of reason and logic, whereas personal experience lies in the categories of perception and emotion. These two very different ways of knowing construct the basis of knowing cats. Scientific inquiry is a significant way of knowing cats. It is empirical, and based on evidence. The knowledge people gain from scientific inquiry is formulated and analyzed in our brains. Through this aspect of knowledge, people have deduced the classification of domestic cats: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum

  • Word count: 690
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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strength and limitations of quantitative and qualitative data

Lekha Ravichandran Class #3 2/19/09 Discuss the strength and limitations of quantitative and qualitative data in supporting knowledge claims in the human sciences and at least one other area of knowledge. Human sciences (such as psychology, economics, anthropology, sociology, etc.) attempt to understand human behavior and seek to learn more about human nature. But our behaviors are often times unpredictable and tricky to interpret due to our language, reason, free will, and creativity. So to what extent can we apply scientific principles to discover more about human actions? How accurate are the conclusions we make based on the data we collect? What factors might affect the consistency of our data? We must ask ourselves and consider these questions when striving to determine the degree to which our quantitative and qualitative data can be deemed reliable. There are many limitations involved when trying to study humans since we are complex, self-conscious beings. There is no absolute certainty that can be achieved when trying to reach conclusions. Deciding upon the laws that we believe to govern our actions has proven to be complex and troublesome. Despite all these issues, and although many people might argue in defense of free-will, experience and other practices have shown us that many of our actions are in fact, very predictable. Still, I believe that when it comes to

  • Word count: 1469
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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