Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

what extent can we comprehend the words
To
in our present cultural and historical
above
Chapter 8 considers the long and
moment?
history of the politics and science of
gendered
pain. The quote from Genesis provides
women’s
religious perspective on this that is neither
a
nor divergent from the historical
surprising
Even monarchs were not spared this
narrative.
the Church of England was unwilling
treatment:
endorse Queen Victoria’s use of anesthetics
to
giving birth to her children. Reportedly,
while
response was to take the anesthetics anyway.
her
denial of women’s pain remains, bizarrely,
The
issue in both science and society, and one that
an
the West, rising levels of divorce, teen
In
and single-parent households have
pregnancy
been blamed on a “feminist” undermining
also
the sanctity of marriage, through birth
of
and women’s rights to choose whether,
control
and with whom to have children. Across
when
section illuminates some tensions and
This
about the extent to which
disagreements
knowledge has changed over
religious
Consider how you would evaluate the
time.
knowledge changes significantly
“Religious
time.” over
knowledge largely remains stable
“Religious
time.” over
What kind of examples and arguments
1.
you offer in support of each of these
can
class, religion and political affiliation
contexts,
collided over the issue of women’s rights.
have
according to Rebecca Chopp, a
However,
theologian, the institution of marriage
feminist
Christianity has been transformed many
in
through history, including recent North
times
history. She asserts that men and
American
lived shorter lives in the 19th century,
women
that the average American marriage lasted
and
than ten years. Step-parenting, second
less
and blended families were common
marriages
up until the 1950s, at which point a new
even
of stable nuclear families was adopted into
ideal
culture. That ideal has been crumbling for a
US
of years. As Chopp puts it, there is no
number
tradition”—marriage has been reinvented
“one
times. The introduction and wide
multiple
of contraceptive pills, for example,
acceptance
shifted the foundations of marriage.
profoundly
intimacy that formed and sustained
The
and the legal structures that formed
marriages,
it, were no longer tightly bound. To put it
around
physical intimacy was suddenly possible
simply,
very low risk outside of marriage and within
at
there was more choice about how many
marriage
to have and when.
children
Analyse and evaluate the evidence. What
2.
you say about the factors that influence
can
(a) What conclusion can you draw based
3.
your analysis?
on
In TOK you will be asked to draw
(b)
between different types of
comparisons
How does your conclusion
knowledge.
religious knowledge compare to
about
you might be able to say about
what
or Indigenous knowledge?
scientific
6II. Perspectives
the woman the Lord God said, I will greatly increase
To
pains in childbearing and in pain you shall
your
forth children. Yet your desire shall be for your
bring
and he shall rule over you.
husband,
3:16)
(Genesis
communities have responded by
Religious
marriage support systems and pro-
providing
marriage, pro-family, pro-abstinence movements.
may be partly rooted in religious assumptions.
Practising skills: Evaluating claims
the extent of the change over time?
following claims.
claims?
150