Presentation Opinions on my ToK presentation's KI and topic please :)

[Felitacarolyn]

Hi everyone!

so i have a presentation coming up, and I've decided to do mine on saviour siblings and/or designer babies. I figure these two will eventually be related, and I was thinking to make designer babies as a sub-topic for saviour siblings.

And so my current KI is:

"To what extent can the act of "Savior Sibling" be ethically justifiable?"

But I'm thinking to change it since I personally think it's pretty weak.. Especially since everyone and their pets in my school formats their KI in such a way that they all start with "To what extent____"

So i was thinking, maybe something like this:

"How can we use reason and emotion to decide if the act of Savior Siblings will ever be ethically justifiable?"

So yeah I will be incorporating reasons and emotions as my WoKs, and for my AoK, it'll definitely by ethics and maybe natural sciences. I'll probably mention a few things here and there concerning religious beliefs as well.

What do you all think? Any suggestions for improvement is definitely welcomed (:

Thanks in advance!!

[iblyf]

I did my TOK oral on a similar sort of ethical issue- how we define 'personhood;' in particular, in relation to unborn children and newborns.

I think that your second knowledge issue is much better- you identify the WoKs that you will discuss very clearly, which allows you to go into a lot of focused depth in your oral about how reason and emotion effect our perceptions and opinions in relation to this issue; using some good examples and evidence. I personally had a similar knowledge issue, with the words 'language' and 'emotion' also in it, which really allowed my group and me to hone in on key areas that influence our perception of what personhood is and why. We did a lot of research to analyse the question, looking at how language and emotion had been utilised in everything from academic journals to advertisement to influence our perception of when personhood begins.

From here, this KI allows you to not only talk about how reason and emotion affect our perceptions, but why. Additionally, this allows you to make some great counterclaims through analysing evidence present in, say, the media to back up your argument. I would suggest that you start researching, and look at what is being said, and how it makes you feel. Do you feel in support of the argument presented? If so, why does it make you feel that way? I would also recommend an analysis of language used if you feel that it's applicable.

With questions like this, it's good to have some kind of debate of perspectives (i.e. yes ethically justifiable and no, not ethically justifiable) and to attempt to explain why certain people might take these sides. How has emotion impacted their decision? And language? What about reason? Try to keep your oral really focused on the question that you are attempting to answer.

Remember- you don't need to come to a conclusion. Rather, you can just present the evidence and points of view in a nice synthesised argument so that your audience is left question how they feel- and why. You want them to leave feeling the merits of both perspectives- and in my opinion, that shows a good ToK oral if your audience is left questioning. It shouldn't be an easy decision to make- especially with such a complex issue. Also, it's important in your oral that you present your own personal perspective (as in literally saying "my knowers perspective is....". You are marked on this- there is a specific criteria for showing what you think. Don't leave it for your markers to guess!

I hope that helps- but it's just my opinion and approach. I did really well in my ToK oral as I was able to not only present the evidence; but to analyse it and explain it. Feel free to ask me any more questions that you have