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

II. THE ESSAY
to present the conclusion, you should be
need
to say something about what it depends on,
able
the circumstances are, which factors affect
what
and why we should care about any of it.
it
so, if you remember one thing about TOK
And
conclusions, let it be this: do not just give
essay
the possibility of knowing. Yes, we spend
up
lot of time and effort in TOK questioning
a
reliability and skill of those who produce
the
the legitimacy and trustworthiness
knowledge;
the institutions or persons who disseminate
of
and our own ability to discern among
it;
and often conflicting perspectives.
multiple
much so, it seems, that in the end students
So
what you might conclude in
Consider
to this PT from May 2014.
response
which is accepted as knowledge today
“That
sometimes discarded tomorrow.” Consider
is
issues raised by this statement in
knowledge
areas of knowledge.
two
has the word “sometimes”—and it would
It
easy, but also underwhelming, to flatly
be
on the basis of your extensive
conclude
that yes, sometimes this or
exploration
can be the case; the end. This title also
that
another tricky word, “tomorrow”, that
has
well drag you into entirely speculative
could
about what might happen to
conclusions
in different fields in the future.
knowledge
you will have recognized both
Hopefully
these challenges with the title well in
of
and written an essay that discusses
advance,
second part of the prescribed title:
the
knowledge issues that arise from this
the
strong conclusion should demonstrate
A
ability to extract meaning from the
your
of knowing, with little to inspire
challenges
in knowledge. It can be tempting,
confidence
this standpoint, to conclude that since so
from
of knowledge is contestable, uncertain,
much
and tentative that it is all relative,
incomplete
unreliable and suspect. We hope that
biased,
your conclusion, and in what you take away
in
TOK, you can see both the difficulties of
from
knowledgeable and the achievement
becoming
having overcome them.
of
knowing, TOK is not easy, but it is not
Like
either. It should certainly not be
impossible
kind of frustrating that makes it hard to
the
why knowledge matters in the world.
appreciate
perspectives you have explored.
different
what have we learned from when
Consider:
how knowledge has been discarded in
and
past? On what grounds was it discarded?
the
happens to discarded knowledge in
What
chosen AOKs? If there were significant
your
surprising similarities and differences
or
your AOKs—how can you
between
strong conclusion also requires an
A
of the implications of the
awareness
and the ability to articulate a
conclusion
that is of consequence. So,
conclusion
what does the possibility of being
consider:
mean for the knowledge we have
discarded
that we offer questions here to give you
Note
sense of the kinds of ideas you can include
a
a conclusion. You can also offer some
in
questions, but it is expected
outstanding
you will attempt to answer them, and
that
courageously—if provisionally—to
respond
12
can be overwhelmed with the limitations and
It matters too much to give it up.
explain these?
today and the confidence we have in it?
statement in two AOKs.
the PT.
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