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

Banyan tree metaphor stands for epistemic
The
a knowledge system consisting
pluralism,
many different roots, “many different but
of
valuable ways of interrogating reality”
equally
2017). We should caution, however,
(Ganeri
relativist arguments that make the
against
of saying, for example, that all areas of
mistake
are correct in their own ways, just
knowledge
For that would be to describe separate,
different.
trees in a forest of knowledge, whereas
isolated
argument is that there really is just one
Ganeri’s
epistemic system, one tree of knowledges,
single
which science, Indigenous knowledge and
of
are all a part.
religion
is important that we do not collapse our view
It
academic disciplines into branches on the
of
of knowledge, because they, too, can be
tree
as trees within their own right.
comprehended
would be so brave to claim that there is only
Who
correct way of doing science, for example?
one
interrogate such a claim in Chapter7.
We
same is true of other areas of knowledge,
The
Western philosophers have been
although
of seeing themselves as the central trunk
accused
we open up to these multiple ways of
As
how do we overcome the problem
knowing,
relativism; the problem of any and all
of
being different but equal in terms of
knowledges
us understand the world? Ganeri refers
helping
Jaina philosophers who offer the concept of
to
stances, or nayas, that are attitudes,
epistemic
or strategies towards producing
approaches
It is a useful construct to escape
knowledge.
and he explains it using yet another
relativism,
important skill for a knower is; the ability
An
reflect on their thinking processes. This
to
is referred to as metacognition, or knowing
skill
knowing. To practise this skill, consider
about
influences and events that have shaped
the
as a knower and thinker, and write a
you
intellectual autobiography. How did you
short
the thinker you are today? You may
become
we can each take different routes
mountain,
get there, and each route offers different
to
and disadvantages. Some will be
advantages
steeper and more challenging; others more
faster,
approaches lead to the same summit,
Different
they are not equivalent. What we are
but
with is not simply the binary of true
concerned
false, which serves to exclude plurality,
and
rather the question of which path is most
but
to our position, goal and capacity.
appropriate
terrain does the mountain present to you?
What
faces will you climb? Different peoples
Which
cultures choose different nayas; to claim that
and
is only one way to the summit, towards
there
to share this with a partner, a small
choose
or with your TOK class.
group
In drafting your intellectual autobiography,
1.
how the following have influenced
consider
thinking and the way you see the
your
today:
world
your upbringing and participation in
(a)
communities
different
III. Methods and tools
III. Methods and tools
leisurely and scenic.
Whichever route is selected, each mountaineer
is in principle able to avail of the same tools and
techniques, the same crampons, maps and axes;
but the mountain unfolds itself dierently to
every one. The toolkit of the responsible enquirer
contains empirical observation, logical techniques
of deduction, induction and inference to the best
explanation, and the pooling of discovery through
testimony. But there is no single correct way of using
those tools in one’s interrogation of reality.
(Ganeri 2017)
of the tree of knowledge.
knowledge, is an act of epistemic violence.
One does not believe a stance in the way that one
believes a fact. Rather, one commits to a stance, or
adopts it.
(Chakravartty 2004)
metaphor. If our goal is to reach the top of a
For discussion
Your intellectual autobiography
17