What is truth? This is an interesting but also difficult question to answer. It is possible to distinguish several different definitions or approaches of truth. Here are three of them.

• Correspondence Theory of Truth: This theory states that a statement (a “proposition”) is true if it corresponds to (or reflects) reality. If somebody states “It is raining” (the proposition) then it is true only if it is really raining outside (reality). The interesting question is now: “What is reality”? We know that senses can deceive us. So how is reality really like? And of course we have to assume that something like reality really does exist and is not simply a product of our mind.

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For some of you my previous recommendation on the TOK Presentation (“The TOK Presentation – Possibility 1”) may be a bit formal and rigid. Not all of you may find it easy to identify a (good) knowledge issue from a real life situation. I would like to therefore introduce to you an alternative approach.

• Step 1: Start off by trying to find a knowledge issue / problem of knowledge right from the start. Knowledge issues often start with the words: “How do we know that….” or “How can we know that…..”, but it is not limited to this. Make sure that your knowledge issue is directly TOK related. Continue reading »

 

Where should you start with the TOK presentation? The following section should help you out. I recommend that you try to find the required “real life problems” with the help of newspapers, but this is not an IB requirement. The following system is only one approach of many to tackle the presentation. I admit that it is a bit rigid and formal, but maybe it helps those students who have absolutely no idea on how to start off.

• Step 1: Get yourself several newspapers and a few (news) magazine covering current events.
• Step 2: Flip through the pages and try to find articles that deal with controversial issues. A controversial issue is an issue on which different people have different opinions. Continue reading »

 

Knowledge, according to Plato, is justified true belief. But this definition does not cover all types of knowledge. You know how to read, for example. This type of knowledge is not based on belief, justification or truth. In this edition we will discuss two different types of knowledge:

• Declarative Knowledge: This includes the knowledge of facts. Some examples could include the knowledge that 5+5=10, the knowledge that the radius of the earth is about 6500km, the knowledge that ice is less dense than liquid water. Declarative knowledge can easily be communicated from person to person.

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The identification of a problem of knowledge in the prescribed TOK essay title is probably one of the most important first steps. But it may also be one of the most difficult tasks. What is the problem of knowledge that is implied in the title? How can one identify it? It may not always be necessary to identify an implied problem of knowledge in the prescribed title, but it may be helpful in structuring the essay.

“[Mathematics] is a creative art because mathematicians create beautiful new concepts; it is a creative art because mathematicians live, act, and think like artists; and it is a creative art because mathematicians regard it so” (Paul Richard Halmos)

– To what extent can this view of art, beauty and creativity be applied to other areas of knowledge? Continue reading »

 

The tree criteria needed for a person to know something are:

• Lack of justification: “I know that aliens exist” – there is no way that you can provide a justification for this claim. Therefore you can not know it.
• Lack of belief: “I know that the world is round but I don’t believe it.” – this is a contradictory statement. For you to know something you have to believe in it. But not every belief is knowledge!
• Lack of truth: I know that a circle has 3 corners. – You can not know things that are evidently not true.

Four possible ways to justify one’s belief are:

• Memory
• Authority
• Logics
• Empirical evidence

 

In this edition I will give you a brief introduction into the marking criteria for the TOK essay.

A. Understanding knowledge issues

• Depth and breadth of understanding: Are you considering different ways of knowing and areas of knowledge and do you explore them in sufficient depth? Are you comparing them?
• Careful: Is the knowledge issue relevant to the prescribed title?

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Alice and Bob are both sitting in the car, Alice is driving. They are waiting at an intersection, the traffic light is red and then changes to green.

Bob: The traffic light is green.

Alice: Don’t be so impatient!

… and they start arguing. What went wrong? According to the psychologist Friedemann Schulz von Thun, a message that is passed from one person to another person carries four pieces of information: Continue reading »

 

The following audio files should give some basic advice for the TOK essay.

Some common TOK Essay problems are:

• Defining terms using only dictionary definitions without interpretation of the definition.
• Relevant ideas are not compared
• Use of generalizing statements and words: all, none, few, many….. It has always been known that…..
• Introductions that make not explicit reference to the topic, or introductions that do not properly interpret the topic question.

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The MU Puzzle is an example of a formal system. The objective of the MU Puzzle is to try to reach the string MU starting from MI, using only these four rules:

• Rule 1: xI ? xIU. If there is an I at the end of the string of letters, then you can add a U. For example if your string is MI then you can change it into MIU. You can only add a U if the last letter is an I.
• Rule 2: Mx ? Mxx. You can double any string that follows the M. So if your string is MIU then you can double the IU after the M. You will then get MIUIU. We have doubled the IU.

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