21st Century Agora: We Do Know

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

We Do Know

In response to a comment by IBBUTTERFLI4LIFE, "DO WE REALLY KNOW ANYTHING?The answer is simple. No, we do not. We know absolutely nothing about anything," I want to make a separate post.

We must be careful that discussions of problems of knowledge do not lead to the conclusion that nothing can be known or that there is no truth. Here a bit of specificity is important. We must talk about degrees of certainty, rather than some binary state of knowing or not knowing. I am completely comfortable saying, and believe I am truthfully saying, that I know my car is in the parking lot, I know 2+2=4, and I know I love my children. Yet I know all these things with different degrees of certainty relative to the ways of knowing I have used. Would I stake the life of my children on my knowledge that my car is in the parking lot? Absolutely not. I am aware of the problems of knowledge that experience, which is the method I use to know that my car is there, can produce. Just because it was there yesterday, and every day that I have taught at NC, does not mean it will be there this afternoon. I am reasonably certain it is...certain enough to say confidently "My car is the parking lot," certain enough not to feel anxiety as I leave the building this afternoon, but not certain enough to risk the lives of my children on this knowledge.

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The Episteme Lectures Renewed!

Thanks to a generous grant from the Washington Township Schools Foundation, The Episteme Lectures have additional funding for another three years! While we continue to need further financial support to expand the level of excellence for which the lectures are known (interested donors should contact Steve Perkins at sperkins@msdwt.k12.in.us or 317.259.5301, x5526), we are deeply grateful to the WTS Foundation for its previous and continued support of this unique educational opportunity. Please visit us at www.epistemelecture.org.

Former TOK Students Speak Out

Today, when I went to open my links to my required reading for my Intro to International Studies, I laughed out loud as I read the title of the second article we had to read:
Epistemology: How You Know What You Know.
Something tells me I am already very well prepared for this course thanks to two years of thinking in one class. I hope all is well with you and your classes at North Central and thanks again for two years of one of the best classes I ever took. Alley Murphy

I'm finishing the last 20 pages of the marathon that is Will Durant's Story of Philosophy. You should recommend its 400 dense (both in words and concepts per square inch) pages of 1920's ornate and pristine prose to any exceptional student; if they start now, it would supplement their ToK experience and undoubtedly imbue them with remarkable writing ability. Although I realize that ToK isn't a philosophical survey course, I can't help but see my youth as one of privation for lack of Kant. Spending one class surveying Kant would not only reveal to ToKers the joys of philosophy and the inevitable narrowness of their perspective, it would also provide some support against the arrogant materialists. Benson Tucker, Brown University

A quote by Rousseau was brought up in my Intro to Itnl. Studies class, and it reminded me greatly of TOK. Fred Hendricks III, Indiana University

As I was sitting in Mexico, waiting for the VBS my youth group was running to end, I noticed the hue of the sky. It indicated a nearing sunset; thus, it was time to go. I got up only to find it was in fact not time to go but at least half an hour early. I took off my sunglasses. They were spotless, unscratched. They gave me a perfectly accurate view of the world save for tint, and that exception influenced my actions greatly. It got me to thinking what other slight misperceptions of the world could have caused me and others to do. It got me talking about perception back at my hotel room. It got the little TOK voice in my head whirring.

Just thought you should know as you begin to plant that questioning seed inside the minds of your new class that your last crop was successful, that even in another country there is no place for your students to run or hide and that even the quiet ones will fall. Kim Hotchkiss, St. Olaf College

Tell all your IB students TOK is the one thing from IB that you will most definitely use in college! I certainly have and I am so happy I was exposed to something like TOK before college. Marissa Hampton, University of California-Irvine

TOK is the best class you can take in high school. And, being able to write critically off the top of your head is pretty much what your have to do on all your non-math/science exams. Plus, TOK is generally a heck of a lot of fun. If you can make it through the beginning of junior year, you're golden. I really do appreciate what TOK has done for me. Anna Boch, Harvard University

I'm double majoring in political science and criminal justice. I've taken some philosophy classes and in depth political analysis classes already and basically owned them. TOK really gave me a crazy perspective when analyzing texts and debating them. I found that I was much much much more prepared than the majority of the students. Keane Mossman, Indiana University

A couple of years ago I asked a large group of [Katie's] friends if they felt prepared for college and what class at NC helped them the most. This was a group of kids who were at Harvard and Stanford and everywhere in between. They said without a doubt they were better prepared than 99% of other students. They also agreed that the best class by far was TOK because it really taught them to think and question. Sara Lootens, mother of Katie Lootens, Duke University

21st Century Agora

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

We Do Know

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2011 Episteme Lecture

2011 Episteme Lecturer -- Dr. Carlton Waterhouse

The Episteme Lectures Renewed!

Former TOK Students Speak Out

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from Plato's Apology