Theory of Knowledge

Theory of Knowledge (ToK) discusses how the student is able to know something. The course teaches that there are four Ways of Knowing: perception, emotion, reason and language. Also used are the following six Areas of Knowledge which are put in the form of a spectrum, the two ends of which are labelled ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’, from left to right: mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, history, the arts and ethics. The course also discusses questions of knowledge, or limitations of knowledge.

The course teaches nine reasons for justification of things one claims to know: logic, sensory perception, revelation, faith, memory, consensus, authority, intuition and self-awareness. Also studied are the three supposed truth tests: coherence, correspondence and pragmatism.

The course is formulated and centered around one main question: How do you know? One uses the Ways of Knowing and the Areas of Knowledge to discuss how one acquires, perceives and applies knowledge and how reliable it may be.

Students must produce an essay, choosing one of the titles set by the IBO, which this year included:

Evaluate the role of intuition in different areas of knowledge

Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

Are some ways of knowing more likely than others to lead to truth?

Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions?

During the later parts of the course or at its completion, students give an internally assessed oral presentation of about 10 minutes and write the externally assessed essay of 1,200 to 1,600 words. The presentation follows a topic of the student’s choosing and may be undertaken as a group. In both the presentation and the essay, the student is required to provide ample discussion of the Problems of Knowledge, Areas of Knowledge and Ways of Knowing concerning their topic as well as critical evaluation of their conclusions. Recent presentation titles include:

What is beauty?

Why do we believe in God and not Father Christmas?

Is there a Bible Code?