Theory of Knowledge

1. Theory of Knowledge 2. Maps and certainty Maps and certainty

2. TOK Key questions How do we form concepts and ideas of the world? What do we need to be aware of? Of what do we feel certain in life? How sure can we be that any knowledge is certain?

3. TOK: Mr Coxon Our mental maps… What is a mental map? An idea of what is true and false, right and wrong– the way in which we understand the world and our place in it. Often called a ‘paradigm’ or system of thought/belief But how accurate/truthful are these maps? Should we rely on them completely? And what is truth anyway…?

4. TOK: Mr Coxon How ‘true’ is this map?

5. TOK: Mr Coxon Some ‘truths’… On the map, Greenland and Africa are the same size. In reality, Africa is fourteen times bigger than Greenland It is based on the convention that the northern hemisphere is at the top, and the southern hemisphere is at the bottom – but how accurate is this? Who is to say that Europe is in the centre of the world… and why has it been shown as such?

6. TOK: Mr Coxon Hobo Dryer projection

7. TOK: Mr Coxon By population…

8. TOK: Mr Coxon From the top?

9. TOK: Mr Coxon What does this tell us about how we should approach TOK?

10. TOK: Mr Coxon If our ideas and beliefs come from our family, friends, teachers, books and the media, and because we don’t have time to check that everything they tell us is true, there are bound to be lots of inaccuracies woven into our mental maps

11. TOK: Mr Coxon It is hard for us to think outside of our customs and conventions

12. TOK: Mr Coxon We can never fully map our experiences and understandings – maps are always representations – never complete in themselves

13. TOK: Mr Coxon What does this have to do with our discussion?

14. TOK: Mr Coxon Certainty List in order the five things in life that you are the most certain of Now, compare your list with someone else. Can you come to any agreement?

15. TOK: Mr Coxon How do you know that the below are true? ‘I know that the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11 2001’ ‘I know that oranges are orange’ ‘I know that if a is bigger than b, and b is bigger than c, then a is bigger than c’ ‘I know that murder is wrong’

16. TOK: Mr Coxon How do you know that the below are true? • ‘I know that the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11 2001’ • Were you there? • ‘I know that oranges are orange’ • But what if you are colour blind? • ‘I know that if a is bigger than b, and b is bigger than c, then a is bigger than c’ • So if some dentists are drunkards and no cyclists are drunkards, are some cyclists dentists? • ‘I know that murder is wrong’ • Perhaps you do, but do others? Are you right? Can you be sure?

17. TOK: Mr Coxon The ultimate truth • ‘I know that I exist’ • How do you know? • If you cannot get outside of your own existence, how do you know that you or others exist at all? • Perhaps we are in a dream, and our dreams are our reality… • Is the fact that we can think about it proof that we are thinking beings, and therefore exist?

18. TOK: Mr Coxon In pairs... Reflect on what we have been talking about this session. What will you take away from this session, and what do you need more time on? What one question would you like to bring to next lesson, based on what we have been talking about today?

19. TOK: Mr Coxon In conclusion Our mental maps might not be as accurate or truthful as we might think… What we think is undoubtedly true might not be… TOK lessons explore these ideas and the problems that stem from them However – we need to maintain some perspective… or we might all go mad!!!