1. Defining our terms - day 3
ToK September 2014
Defining our terms - day 3

2. Summary of terms so far…
Knowledge – justified, true, belief; personal and shared
Knowledge claims – 1st order, 2nd order
Ways of Knowing – language, reason, sense perception, emotion, imagination, intuition, faith
Areas of Knowledge – math, natural sciences, human sciences, history, the arts, ethics, religious knowledge systems, indigenous knowledge systems

3. Now the big one …
Knowledge questions – what are they, how do I evaluate them, where do I get some?

4. KQ- what are they?
About knowledge – how knowledge is constructed and evaluated
Open – have a number of plausible answers
General – express in general terms rather than subject specific

5. Some examples Not KQs Good KQs
What causes global warming?
How can one decide when one theory is better than another?
How can we predict population growth in Africa?
How can a mathematical model give us knowledge even if it does not give accurate predictions?
How does the placebo effect work?
How could we establish that X is an ‘active ingredient’ in causing Y?

6. Let’s improve. What’s wrong with these? Not so good … Better Good
Why do optical illusions
happen?
What are the benefits of limiting internet access?

7. Let’s improve Can we make them better? Not so good … Better Good
Why do optical illusions
happen?
What can we learn
from optical illusions?
What are the benefits of limiting internet access?
Is internet censorship ethically beneficial to society?

8. Let’s improve What about these? Not so good … Better Good
Why do optical illusions
happen?
What can we learn
from optical illusions?
What, if anything, do
optical illusions tell us
about sense perception
and truth?
What are the benefits of limiting internet access?
Is internet censorship ethically beneficial to society?
Who should decide how freely people are allowed to express themselves?

9. So what we looking for? Open General
About knowledge and its acquisition
And …
The reader will need to define some terms and explain some assumptions within the question before answering.

10. Can you write a good KQ? In table groups, complete the following task:
Given a set of poor KQs, rewrite them to make them open, about knowledge and general but still clearly related to the original question.
Write your new questions out on the paper provided.
When time is called, post your new versions on the wall. Be prepared to evaluate your own question as well as others.

11. Some not-so-go0d KQs… Is SMS a language?
Do all quadratic equations have solutions?
Is it okay for governments to reinterpret history?
Will science eventually tell us how the Universe started?
Does home-schooling do a better job at education than school?

12. Task:
Find an example in current-events, history or your life that you can relate to a KQ. The example should also employ at least one of these Ways of Knowing:
Emotion
Reason
Sense perception
Be ready to share short description (headline?) the example and its source, related WoKs and KQ.

13. Where do we find them? Everywhere.
From Fox News
Lawmakers tell Obama ‘we must go after ISIS’ after new video surfaces
Congressional lawmakers urged the Obama administration to crank up the offensive against the Islamic State after another video surfaced purporting to show the graphic execution of an American journalist.
From Mother Jones
Here Are the Psychological Reasons Why an American Might Join ISIS
Psychologist Arie Kruglanski explains how closed-mindedness and existential angst create the modern American jihadist.

14. Upcoming events… A closer look at Ways of Knowing
Let’s start looking at a particular AoK.
What is a knowledge framework?