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ToK New Curriculum (first examination May 2015). Theory of Knowledge The Sciences (Human and Natural) and the Knowledge Framework. American Anthropological Association Long-Term Plan: revision in 2010.
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ToK New Curriculum (first examination May 2015) • Theory of Knowledge • The Sciences (Human and Natural) and the Knowledge Framework
American Anthropological AssociationLong-Term Plan: revision in 2010 • OLD VERSION: “The purposes of the Association shall be to advance anthropology as the science that studies humankind in all its aspects, through archaeological, biological, ethnological, and linguistic research; and to further the professional interests of American anthropologists; including the dissemination of anthropological knowledge and its use to solve human problems.” • NEW VERSION: “The purposes of the Association shall be to advance public understanding of humankind in all its aspects. This includes, but is not limited to, archaeological, biological, social, cultural, economic, political, historical, medical, visual, and linguistic anthropological research.”
Science or Not Science? • What could be the grounds upon which some practitioners of a discipline might not want to describe their subject as “science”? • Which of these grounds might be applicable in the case of anthropology?
The aim of this session is to explore the use of the knowledge framework as an organising device for the treatment of the natural and human sciences in TOK...
Knowledge Framework • Scope and Applications • Language and Concepts • Methodology • Historical Development • Links to Personal Knowledge To what extent does the knowledge framework tool help us to locate the origins of disputes in the human sciences and ground a discussion of them?
Knowledge Framework as a Toolcollation of responses... • Scope and Applications • Language and Concepts • Methodology • Historical Development • Links to Personal Knowledge
CommentarySome Responses from Anthropologists • “[some] have argued that the discipline as a whole has become dominated by cultural anthropologists” • “the dispute has brought to light how little common ground is shared by anthropologists who span a wide array of sub-specialties” • “some anthropologists might mine the language and analytical tools favored by such humanities as literary criticism, while others may be more likely to deploy statistical methodology as befits social science. Still others might rely on the biological metrics, hard data and scientific method used by natural scientists” • “[a distinction has been made] between fluff-head cultural anthropological types who think science is just another way of knowing and those who pay closer attention to hard data and follow that data wherever they lead” • “the association's mission statement had become a concern because it maintained the colonizing, privileging, superior positionality of anthropology that continues to plague the discipline” • “scrubbing science from the plan's mission statement would allow anthropologists to better incorporate and appreciate the ways of knowing practiced by the people that scholars study and work with closely” • “some argued that being an anthropologist, by necessity, meant that one had to advocate on behalf of one's subjects” Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/30/anthroscience
Prescribed Essay Title What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing? What contribution towards a successful response to this title can each aspect of the knowledge framework make?
