Knowledge framework

Scope/applications

This component attempts to explore the range of the specific AOK within the totality of human knowledge and how that knowledge is used. Scope refers to the definition of the AOK in terms of subject matter, and the form that an AOK takes depends critically upon the nature of the problems it is trying to answer.

For example:

• biology studies living organisms and is mainly concerned with how they function
• mathematics is the study of quantity, space, shape and change
• in engineering, however, precise numerical methods are a matter of life and death music might not seem concerned with solving practical problems at all but the composer has to solve the “musical engineering” problems of building a piece of music; it has to be a unified whole and yet at the same time there has to be some sort of inherent contrast there to provide tension and energy and, for the listener, interest.

Exploration of the scope and applications of a particular AOK can lead to interesting discussions of the ethical considerations that have to be taken into account. Practitioners in a particular AOK might not be permitted to explore all the aspects that are of interest. There might be moral and ethical limits on the sort of investigations they undertake and experiments they perform.

Essential Questions:

• What is the area of knowledge about?
• What practical problems can be solved through applying this knowledge?
• What makes this area of knowledge important?
• What are the current open questions in this area—important questions that are currently unanswered?
• Are there ethical considerations that limit the scope of inquiry? If so, what are they?

Concepts/language

This element explores the way in which language is used in the production of knowledge in each AOK. The key idea is that language does not just communicate pre-existing “non-verbal” knowledge but that, in many cases, the language used actually constitutes knowledge. Take language away and there is nothing left. One of the reasons for this is that the language names concepts—these are the building blocks for knowledge. An AOK is a system of relationships between its key concepts. Different building blocks build quite different AOKs and produce different ways of thinking about the world.

For example:

• in physics key concepts include those of causation, energy and its conservation principle, field, charge and so on
• in visual arts we might be concerned with the color palette, texture, composition, movement, symbolism and technique
• in music the central concepts might be melody, rhythm, harmony, tension, relaxation, texture and color.

Discussions of the concepts and language that shape an AOK can link well to discussions about shared knowledge. Language allows knowledge to be passed on to others and to be accumulated over time for future generations. This is what makes this sort of knowledge “shared knowledge”. The fact that it can be communicated between individuals across space and over time is important. A significant proportion of current knowledge is not new but has been passed down to us from the past or from other parts of the
world.

Essential Questions

• What role does language play in the accumulation of knowledge in this area?
• What are the roles of the key concepts and key terms that provide the building blocks for knowledge in this area?
• What metaphors are appropriate to this area of knowledge?
• What is the role of convention in this area?

Methodology

One of the most striking differences between the AOKs is the methods that they use. Examining and comparing the methodologies of the different AOKs begins with students being able to identify the specific methods or procedures used in an AOK, and exploring the assumptions that underlie those methods.

Assumptions and values play an important part in the methodology that underpins the production of knowledge. Each AOK establishes certain things as being important and others less so—each has a set of values that underpin the knowledge that is produced. No AOK is value free—some methods are better than others, some facts are more reliable than others, some theoretical models give better understanding than others. Recognition of these values and how they affect the methodology that is used is crucial to
understanding the character of the AOK.

For example, in the natural sciences, much knowledge comes about through testing hypotheses by experiment; this assumes that laboratory conditions accurately mimic what happens in the rest of the universe and that the world can be understood as a system of causes determining effects.

One way to explore methodology is to examine the question of what counts as a fact in this particular AOK. Another way would be to examine the question of what counts as an explanation in this particular AOK. For example:

• in history, an explanation might consist of an overarching theory giving plausible motivations to the various historical actors that joins up the isolated historical documents
• in literature, the explanation of text might involve examination of its themes, motives and characterization through the literary devices employed.

Another way to explore methodology is to examine any constraints on the methods that can be used; for example, ethical constraints on experiments conducted in the human sciences.

Essential Questions

• What are the methods or procedures used in this area and what is it about these methods that generates knowledge?
• What are the assumptions underlying these methods?
• What counts as a fact in this area of knowledge?
• What role do models play in this area of knowledge?
• What ethical thinking constrains the methods used to gain knowledge?

Historical development

AOKs are dynamic entities that change over time as conceptual developments and advances are made in methodology. This need not be seen as a problem but rather an advantage—our systems are flexible and capable of responding to developments. Knowledge can, therefore, be considered provisional.

For example:

• consider a Swedish school textbook in history from 1912: it is quite different in its idea of history from those used today; a physics textbook from 1912 seems to have much the same idea about physics but the content is likely to be different
• an artwork might derive much of its meaning from the historical context in which it is produced and might even reference other earlier works.

Tracking the rough historical development of an AOK is a valuable tool in TOK. It is tempting to speculate that if we re-ran the history of human knowledge then the AOKs might look quite different to their current form. How much of our knowledge depends on accidents of history? Are certain AOKs more susceptible to these historical factors than others? Even our systems of measurement (m, kg, s) are historically situated and so, of course, are the concepts and the language employed by subject disciplines. Interesting discussions can be had over why particular historical events and factors have had such an impact on the development of a particular AOK.

Essential Questions

• What is the significance of the key points in the historical development of this area of knowledge?
• How has the history of this area led to its current form?

Links to personal knowledge

There are links and interactions between shared and personal knowledge. Individuals contribute to shared knowledge. Their contributions have to go through whatever validation procedures are required by a particular discipline in order to be counted as “common” knowledge in that area. But shared knowledge also contributes to an individual’s own understanding of the world. This is one, but not the only, purpose of shared knowledge—that it enables individuals to make sense of the world. The nature of this interaction between shared and personal knowledge is the last component of the knowledge framework to be examined. It is important because it addresses the question “so what does this mean for me?” What impact do these AOKs have on our individual lives and the way in which we view the world? How does this area form or change our perspective?

Essential Questions

• Why is this area significant to the individual?
• What is the nature of the contribution of individuals to this area?
• What responsibilities rest upon the individual knower by virtue of his or her knowledge in this area?
• What are the implications of this area of knowledge for one’s own individual perspective?
• What assumptions underlie the individual’s own approach to this knowledge?

Knowledge framework: Mathematics

Scope/applications

• mathematics concerned with quantity, shape, space and change—difficult to define
• used to create models in the natural and human sciences
• the possibility of a mathematical treatment is taken by many to be the sign of intellectual rigor—for example, in economics or psychology
• possesses qualities such as beauty and elegance—sometimes thought of as an art form
• seems to be broadly universal and not tied to a particular culture
• mathematical truths seem to be certain and timeless

Concepts/language

• uses a precisely defined set of symbols standing for abstract things like sets and relations
• key terms such as axiom, deduction rule, conjecture, theorem, proof

Methodology

• uses pure reason from axioms to produce proofs of mathematical theorems
• a statement in mathematics is true if and only if it is proved
• mathematics does not seem to rely on sense perception of the world
• mathematicians require intuition and imagination in order to prove theorems

Historical development

• seminal developments such as negative or irrational numbers have led to big changes in the way we view the world
• numbers and geometry particularly important in historical development of other fields such as painting, architecture and music

Links to personal knowledge

• maths ability often taken to be a proxy for intelligence with consequences for individual self-esteem
• much scope for major contributions to mathematics by talented individuals who cannot always explain the source of their insights, often ascribing them to intuition, imagination or emotion

Knowledge framework

Scope/applications

• natural science is a system of knowledge of the natural world largely based on observation and constructed using reason and imagination
• the sciences are shared knowledge, often shared by a large grouping geographically spread and largely independent of culture
• prediction is often an important feature of scientific knowledge, but understanding is also a prime purpose
• natural sciences are interested in producing generalized statements, principles or scientific laws about the natural world
• most of these laws are causal: If event A happens then B will happen as a result

Concepts/language

• many of the laws of the natural sciences are stated using the language of mathematics—maths is central
• language of the sciences is precise in order to eliminate ambiguity which might affect the reasoning process

Methodology

• measurement involves interaction with the world, but this interaction can sometimes change the aspect of the world we are trying to measure
• models are important in most areas of the natural sciences
• classification is a central idea in many of the natural sciences
• among the methods employed by the natural sciences are: hypothesis-deduction and induction—use of reason and sense perception

Historical development

• there have been a number of pivotal shifts of thinking in the development of the natural sciences

Links to personal knowledge

• the natural sciences give us a view of ourselves as material entities behaving according to universal laws
• there is little space here to see ourselves as rational, free agents with desires and the ability to choose
• individuals have contributed to scientific progress, often in revolutionary ways
• use of imagination, intuition and emotion in creation of hypotheses

Knowledge framework: Human Sciences

Scope/applications

• investigate and understand human behavior
• includes a diverse range of disciplines: anthropology, economics, psychology, sociology
• some disciplines aim broadly to predict human behavior (economics, applied sociology)

Concepts/language

• key concepts such as opportunity cost in economics
• use of mathematical language to suggest intellectual rigor
• problems with wording of questionnaires and the difficulty of neutral language

Methodology

• experimental method
• use of questionnaires, polls
• direct observation of human behavior
• use of models
• use of reason to construct plausible theory consistent with other accepted knowledge in the field
• some assumptions of human rationality (economics), or law-like behavior (psychology)
• use of statistical methods—on what basis to choose things like significance levels of tests?

Historical development

• early views of economics as study of man as a maximizer of utility have been replaced by modern behavioral economics which sees man as essentially irrational and heuristic
• early ideas of anthropology as a study in human progress have been replaced post-Boaz with less value-laden perspectives
• Freudian psycho-dynamics have been replaced by a drive towards empirical observation of behavior in modern functional theories in psychology

Links to personal knowledge

• understanding of self as a locus of consciousness, as an economic agent or as an individual defined relative to a social background
• significant contributions made by individuals in all fields: Smith, Ricardo, Keynes, Friedmann in economics, Boaz in anthropology, Freud, Watson in psychology
• modern economics and psychology are more collaborative, although anthropology seems to be more open to individual contributions
• to what extent is it legitimate for the inquirer to draw upon his/her own experiences as evidence in his/her investigations in the human sciences (the verstehen approach)?
• to what extent are personal factors such as gender and age important in the human sciences?

Knowledge framework: History

Scope/applications

• the study of the recorded past
• helps make sense of the present
• knowledge shared by group to help produce a sense of common heritage
• perhaps allows us in a limited way to envisage possible futures

Concepts/language

• narrative style appropriate for the purpose of understanding the past
• designed for understanding possibly at an emotional level rather than strict objective disinterest

Methodology

• use of contemporary documents as fixed points of historical theory
• historical theory being constructed out of the available evidence by reason and imagination
• issues of selection and interpretation of source material
• issues of reliability of first-hand accounts—memory and observation are affected by interests and expectation
• history seems to presuppose a theory of human action. For example, the view of history as being shaped by the action of individuals as opposed to the idea of history as the playing out of class struggles or of a zeitgeist
• an explanation in history is a plausible theory that explains the relevant source material and fits other accepted theories

Historical development

• present preoccupations tend to affect the study of past events
• history itself looked different in the past

Links to personal knowledge

• understanding one’s history gives a clear sense of personal identity
• history tends to be constructed through the interaction of individual historians—there is less emphasis on collaborative work than in the natural sciences

Knowledge framework: the Arts

Scope / applications

• the arts perform some sort of social function
• the arts as a means of shaping belief
• role of society in determining what is art
• importance of the local cultural dimension in defining value in the arts
• art forms are based on sense perception
• the arts might be an instrument of social transformation

Concepts / language

• role of language and convention in the arts
• language of an art form is often non-verbal—frees the arts from being limited to propositional knowledge

Methodology

• artistic creation is often a result of personal knowledge requiring imagination and creativity
• creativity requires imagination taking place within a framework, often using reason
• art often requires a (possibly emotional) interaction with an audience
• relationship between art and technology—new technologies spawn new art forms, for example, film, computer art, computer music

Historical development

• conventions and values in the arts change over time
• importance of historical development of an art form in making sense of its present form

Links to personal knowledge

• relationship between the artwork and the artist is often emotional
• art can contribute to a view of self
• art can shape an individual’s view of the world

Knowledge framework: Ethics

Scope/applications

• morality is often regarded as concerned with praiseworthy or blameworthy reasons for action
• ethics more generally concerned with answering the question “what should one do?”
• moral values seem to be distinct from other sorts of value in that they produce obligations to action
• an ethical viewpoint seems to imply that the individual takes the interests of others into consideration as well as his or her own

Concepts/language

• categories: acts that are prohibited, permitted or required
• “what should one do?” might be a different question than “what is one morally obliged to do?”
• general requirement for ethical judgments to be universalizable—so they have a public dimension almost by definition
• rights seem to be goods that the group is obliged to provide for the individual—so each right claimed carries a corresponding obligation
• moral language contains a built-in requirement for action

Methodology

• taking an ethical framework as a starting point and reasoning from general principles to a specific situation
• extracting morally significant aspects using reason from the perception of the current situation
• ethical principles can be refined by checking them against our moral intuitions
• our moral intuitions can be refined by checking them against ethical principles
• consequentialist ethics requires imagining consequences of an action and evaluating them

Historical development

• the nature of ethical thought might have changed somewhat from that held by Greek thinkers of the fourth century BCE
• perhaps the emphasis now is less on virtues and more on rights

Links to personal knowledge

• moral obligations require action, so morality impacts on the individual
• why should living a moral life matter?
• is living a moral life a question of having the right character?
• one might be guided by emotion and intuition, but moral judgments seem to be more than simple expressions of personal preference

Knowledge framework: Religsious Knowledge Systems (RKS)

Scope/applications

• attempts to explain the meaning and purpose of life
• incorporates a diverse range of systems from atheism, monotheism, and polytheism to pantheism.

Concepts/language

• difficulties in using human language to describe the divine
• importance of analogy and metaphor
• language shifts: oral to written, Latin to vernacular
• conventions: authority of scripture in many systems, leaders and authority figures
• key concepts: faith, miracles, god(s), revelation

Methodology

• argumentation, use of reason
• interpretation
• use of revelation
• sense perception
• authority
• value on faith

Historical development

• debates between literal/fundamentalist, conservative and liberal approaches
• impact of scientific knowledge
• language developments leading to wider developments

Links to personal knowledge

• understanding of the self—personal views on life after death, personal moral decision-making
• emotional element in religious belief
• attitudes and behavior towards others
• founding figures: Muhammad, Christ, Buddha, Joseph Smith, etc.
• spiritual leaders: Dalai Lama, Apostle Paul, etc.
• individuals who have changed the course of religious history such as Martin Luther
• role of collaboration—community element: ummah in Islam, evangelism and religious pluralism

Knowledge framework

Scope/applications

• attempts to explain the nature and existence of humanity for a particular group of human beings
• incorporates a diverse range of systems including Inuits, Aymara Indians in Bolivia, Romani people and more

Concepts/language

• role of language in the knowledge system, for example storytelling
• use of metaphor and analogies
• maintaining traditions through written language
• oral traditions are dying because they are not written down
• conventions: role of elders, importance of group over individual
• key concepts: nomad, concept of home, honor, ownership

Methodology

• oral tradition handing down through the generations—role of memory
• ritual—shared emotion
• folklore
• music
• artifacts
• systems of reason
• explaining observed natural phenomena as being part of a total worldview—role of sense perception

Historical development

• impact of colonialization and globalization

Links to personal knowledge

• understanding the self—ancestry, place in the world, attitudes and behavior towards others
• elders personally contributing to the form of the knowledge system
• collaboration: the enactment of ritual and tradition gives the possibility through a group effort of reinforcing the system of knowledge
• ancestral knowledge linked to the personal