KIN 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 Hey Everyone,I would be grateful if someone could help me with my ToK essay as I am really bad with ToK... Thank YOU Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
susanne 91 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 2. “There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge: through passive observation or through active experiment.†To what extent do you agree with this statement? I assume that this is the title? I personally think that the humanities and the science fields can offer some very interesting contrasts. Knowledge produced in arts is not exactly by experiment -- though you can probably dispute the point by the definition of experiment, as the term can be understood differently in the two area. Personal examples would like pretty well here. But in sciences, knowledge produced is almost always by experiment. However, that, is a faulty idea. Look at even the basis for evolution, the knowledge did not come from experimentation nor observation, it is from higher order reasoning so I'd have my central idea as: no, there's much more ways to gaining knowledge than experimentation. you must remember to define experimentation; and dont put a narrow definition, because there are books that are designed to experiment with human emotions, in a way different than scientific experiment 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandwich 2,412 Report post Posted October 23, 2014 The way I'd approach it is that the question is basically stating a black and white thing - the only ways we can achieve knowledge are X and Y. So you need to put some arguments forward which agree with that, but also counter-arguments for the opposite - i.e. 'active observation' and 'passive experiment'. Flipping it around like that is a good way to begin, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KIN 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2014 2. “There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge: through passive observation or through active experiment.†To what extent do you agree with this statement? I assume that this is the title? I personally think that the humanities and the science fields can offer some very interesting contrasts. Knowledge produced in arts is not exactly by experiment -- though you can probably dispute the point by the definition of experiment, as the term can be understood differently in the two area. Personal examples would like pretty well here. But in sciences, knowledge produced is almost always by experiment. However, that, is a faulty idea. Look at even the basis for evolution, the knowledge did not come from experimentation nor observation, it is from higher order reasoning so I'd have my central idea as: no, there's much more ways to gaining knowledge than experimentation. you must remember to define experimentation; and dont put a narrow definition, because there are books that are designed to experiment with human emotions, in a way different than scientific experiment I liked the reasoning bit, but what can I write as my Knowledge Questions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites