Ways of Knowing: TOK WOK

Ways of Knowing How do we know something? For TOK they divide it down into 4 categories Language Perception Reason Emotion

What is Language? Consider Language is rule governed Language is intended Language is creative and open ended

Language is rule governed Quan Koira Kutta Madra Inu Gae Hund Why does Dog mean dog? Why do we visualize a dog when we say these 3 letters These are the tribe rules

Language is intended

Language is Intended You are in class, the teacher is writing on the board, you catch someone's eye and make a yawning gesture by putting you hand to your mouth You try to look interested when the teacher is talking you but yawn by accident Which of the above can be described as language

Language is Creative and open-ended “The wise cow seeks shelter from the snow at dusk” Make up a wise saying that has never been said before Is sign language a language? 3 minutes Do animals have language? 3 minutes

The problem of Meaning We get our a lot of our knowledge in the form of language Lots of problems here What is a meaningful word and what is not 3 main theories

Meaning of words: Definition theory Meaning is to be found in a dictionary How would you describe this The meaning of a work and its dictionary meaning may be incorrect.

Meaning of words :Denotation theory Found in the world i.e. France What about abstract words like – Freedom – wisdom

Meaning of words :Image Theory You have an image in you head when speaking the word it is meaningful Problem here is that the image in you head may be different to the next person

All 3 theories have problems Therefore the Know How theory – You know the meaning of a word if you know how to use it

Language at war Warspeak Security assistance Neutralize NO longer a factor Take out Inoperative combat personnel Pacification Service a target Collateral damage Friendly fire Strategic redeployment Liberate Reporting guidelines Pre emptive Ethnic cleansing Arms Sales Kill Dead Dead Soldiers Bombing Dropping bombs on a target Bombed cities Firing on your own troops Retreat Invade Censorship Unprovoked Genocide

Language to influence and persuade Terrorist/ freedom fighter Pro life / pro choice Genetically modified food/ Frankenstein Free speech / hate speech Department of War/ Department of Defense 1947

Weasel Words Our product can restore up to 25% of lost hair Probably the best larger in the world Dentifresh toothpaste helps fight tooth decay If Timothy works hard he should do himself justice in the final exam Find the weasel works in the above

Language and Translation What would be the advantage and disadvantage if everyone in the world spoke a single common language? What would be gained by this and what would be lost?

2nd Language “Who does not know another language does not know his own” Goethe What can you learn about your own language by studying a second language 10 minutes in groups

Key points for today A great deal of our knowledge comes through language Language is – Rule governed – Intended – Creative Meaning of words is a matter of know how Weasel Words Language and translation

WOK Ways of Knowing 4 Ways