Theory of Knowledge

Ways of Knowing

KNOWLEDGE&

SENSEPERCEPTION

CHALLENGE…

We are fallible beings. We make mistakes.

We want, and sometimes need, to believe something or “in” someone. This psychological need can influence our judgment.

What we “know” is rooted either in what we experience first-hand or in what we learn from others (their experience).

Can we be confident, then, that when we claim to know something through experience we are justified in claiming it to be true?

ARE THE DISKS MOVING?

WHICH SOLDIER IS THE TALLEST?

A CASE OF BASKETS

In the video you are about to see there are two teams a players, one team wearing black T-shirts, the other wearing white T-shirts. Each team is passing a basketball to another member of the team. How many times do the members of the team in white T-shirts pass the ball?

IS THIS A “GOOD” WINE?

TOTT… Time-out to Think

What ideas/conclusions might you come to in light of the preceding slides?

What might be the connections between sensory organs, brains, emotions, language, reason and knowledge?

How are knowledge and belief connected to sense experience?

What are “facts”?

TOTT… Time-out to Think

What ideas do the previous slides lead you to consider?

Concerning knowledge, what obstacles, if any, do the previous slides suggest?

If you can think of some obstacles to knowledge, how might these be overcome?

Are all forms of knowledge subject to the obstacles you have identified?

PARADIGMS

A paradigm is a conceptual framework (model) for organizing, interpreting and understanding and giving meaning to our experience

Paradigms are formed using concepts symbolized by language

Examples of paradigms: “capitalism”; “feminism”; “catholicism”, “science” “terrorism”

There are no immaculate experiences

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

TOTT… Time-out to Think

What ideas do the previous slides lead you to consider?

What connections, if any, can you draw between the previous two sets of slides and the ones you just viewed?

Does language, culture, ethnicity, religion, class, and personality affect “perception”? If so, how?

Are all forms of knowledge affected in this way?

BIAS

Bias: noun  prejudice, preconception

a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation

A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment.

EXERCISE

Look carefully at the picture which follows and then consider what you would focus on in order to write three brief descriptions (100 words):1> Favourable (positive)2> Unfavourable (negative)3> Neutral

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

TOTT… Time-out to Think

How, if at all, can the influence of our biases, prejudices, filters and paradigms be overcome in perception? Is it important to do so? Why?

Do our perceptions work in different ways in the arts, ethics, history, social science, mathematics and science?

Is there any knowledge which is completely independent of perception?

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

What we experience is not simply the “world out there” as it “is”.

Human experience is the product of 1) the natural, external world, 2) the constructed environment, 3) the structure of our sense organs and our brain, and 4) the social, cultural & personal filters we have acquired over the course of our lives.

We may never fully know the “world out there” as it actually is in itself.

THE ROAD TO KNOWLEDGE