STRUCTURE OF TOK Working guide to terms, concepts, etc

Knowledge Claims  Assertion of truth. Not just a statement of fact.  EX: Maria Callas was a great influence on generations of singers.  NON EX: Maria Callas died in 1977, and lived alone.  EX: Settling the federal budget involves many compromises and concessions.  NON EX: The 2015 federal budget proposal is $3.99 trillion.

But…ToK is mostly concerned with knowledge claims about the nature of knowledge, not just a subject The law of gravity, which refers to the natural phenomenon experienced by physical bodies which appear to attract to each other, is an established scientific principle. All claims should have scientific evidence for them to be considered as valid.

Another example: Monitoring student athletes’ social media  Read the article.  Knowledge claims made in the article, about the subject.  Knowledge claims about the nature of the knowledge: -Monitoring of athletes on social networking sites is only to protect their reputation and not to restrict their freedom of expression. - another???

Knowledge Questions- are questions about the nature of knowledge. -related to the methods and mechanisms by which we acquire knowledge EX: What role does emotion play in supporting claims made in the natural sciences? -open ended EX: On what basis can one theory or explanation about the world be considered better than others?

KQ, cont. -they are general, not subject specific EX: What role do reason and imagination play in generating a hypothesis about scientific processes? Knowledge claim: There is evidence to indicate that measles has become an epidemic in Santa Monica schools. KQ: How much evidence do scientists need before they accept a theory as true?

Areas of Knowledge  8 areas: Mathematics, ethics, history, human sciences, religious knowledge systems, natural sciences, indigenous knowledge, the arts  Terms to know (see handout)  Homework: Go through the list of terms. Make sure that you know the terms, and can use them fluently. If you do not know a term, look it up, learn it, and use it. There will be random quizzes…of the informal kind.

Ways of Knowing  8 ways of knowing: emotion, memory, imagination, sense perception, intuition, reason, faith, language  Terms to know (see handout)  HW: same as for Areas of Knowledge…just a prompt to know the terms…  EX: what is beautiful? See tok page/ideal beauty link

Knowledge Framework  A way to compare and explore the AoKs Scope and Applications Methodology Links to Personal Knowledge Concepts and Language Historical Development

Real Life Situation  An example: “Pope Francis has defended freedom of expression following last week's attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo - but also stressed its limits. The pontiff said religions had to be treated with respect, so that people's faiths were not insulted or ridiculed. To illustrate his point, he told journalists that his assistant could expect a punch if he cursed his mother. The remarks came as funerals were held for four people killed in the attack by militant Islamists.”

 Knowledge claim – Faith and religion should be respected differently than politics because of the nature of belief.  Knowledge Question – Should freedom of expression have limits?

RLS – used in both  Presentations – the content is built around a RLS  Essays – use both RLS and research, and your own analysis, in writing the essay