Knowledge and LANGUAGE
Language is an essential part of our daily lives, with most of our knowledge coming to us linguistically encoded. It plays an important role in communicating and sharing knowledge and has a significant impact on the way that we experience the world. However, some see language as having an even more central role, arguing that language doesn’t just describe our experiences of the world but, in fact, actually structures those experiences, limiting and shaping what we know. This theme provides an opportunity for students to reflect on the role that language plays in our lives, and the influence it has on thought and behaviour. It also encourages students to draw on their personal experience of language-learning as part of their DP studies.
Language plays a key role in the communication and dissemination of knowledge; it also enables knowledge to be accumulated for, and passed down to, future generations. Language is also key to how claims are exposed to public scrutiny; it enables what we think to be communicated, debated, confirmed or refuted.
(from the IB Guide)
Making connections to the core theme
• If you speak more than one language, is what you know different in each language? (scope)
• Do people from different linguistic or cultural backgrounds live, in some sense, in different worlds? (perspectives)
• What are the implications if we do not produce knowledge in language that respects people’s preferred modes of self-identification? (methods and tools)
• Who decides whether language should be censored in films and TV shows, and using what criteria? (ethics)
It is crucial that discussions within this optional theme stay focused explicitly on knowledge rather than consisting of general discussions about language. The following examples of knowledge questions can help to ensure this focus.
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Examples of knowledge questions |
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Scope |
• Can all knowledge be expressed in words or symbols? • Is it possible to think or know without language? • Is being able to speak a language an example of “knowing how” to do something? • What role does language play in allowing knowledge to be shared with future generations? • Are there differences in how knowledge itself is conceived of, or presented, in different languages? • Is it the case that if we cannot express something, we don’t know it? • To what extent does language allow us to make our private experiences public? • How does language allow humans to pool resources and share knowledge? |
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Perspectives |
• Does the transmission of knowledge from one person or generation to another depend on language? • What knowledge might be lost if the whole world shared one common language? • If a language dies, does knowledge die with it? • How do our values and assumptions influence the language in which we express our ideas? • Is ambiguity a shortcoming of language that must be eliminated, or can it also be seen as making a positive contribution to knowledge and knowing? • Do all people share some innate linguistic knowledge? If the categories that we use necessarily empower or marginalise, is it ever possible to produce knowledge that does not either reflect or challenge existing power structures? |
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Methods and tools |
• How are metaphors used in the construction of knowledge? • If language works according to sets of rules and conventions, how much scope do we have as individuals to break the rules or challenge these conventions? • In what ways do values affect our representations of the world, for example, in language, maps or visual images? • To what extent do the classification systems we use in the pursuit of knowledge affect the conclusions that we reach? • In what ways can language be used to influence, persuade or manipulate people’s emotions? • To what extent do the names and labels that we use help or hinder the acquisition of knowledge? |
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Ethics |
• Does ethical language differ in any significant way from other types of language? • How can we know if language is intended to deceive or manipulate us? Do ethical statements simply convey our feelings/emotions rather than making claims? • If ethical terms and concepts cannot be easily defined, does this mean that they are meaningless? • Can we define words such as good and bad in terms of objective features of the world? • Do professional interpreters and translators have any special ethical obligations? |
Fallacies and Pitfalls of Language by 
The Language Instinct by 
Suspended in Language by 
The Singing Neanderthals by Knowledge and POLITICS
This theme provides an opportunity for discussions about the practice of politics and our everyday interactions with politics in the world around us. For example, this theme is intended to provide an opportunity to engage with high-profile contemporary debates and examples, such as those around “fake news” and “post-truth politics”. It considers where our political views and values come from, and how these inform and influence other areas of our lives. It encourages students to consider the role and origin of their own political beliefs and positions, as well as exploring issues relating to how groups make decisions that affect large numbers of people. Another key focus of this theme is the “politics of knowledge” and issues around knowledge, power and oppression.
Another interesting possible area of discussion could be around persuasion, manipulation, misinformation and propaganda.
Making connections to the core theme
• How can we know whether we have sufficient knowledge before voting in an election? (scope)
• Has technology changed how and where our political views are shaped? (perspectives)
• Are objective facts or appeals to emotion more effective in shaping public opinion? (methods and tools)
• In a democratic system, do we have an ethical obligation to be knowledgeable about political issues and events? (ethics)
It is crucial that discussions within this optional theme stay focused explicitly on knowledge rather than consisting of general discussions about politics or political issues. The following examples of knowledge questions can help to ensure this focus.
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Examples of knowledge questions |
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Scope |
• In what ways is factual evidence sometimes used, abused, dismissed and ignored in politics? • Is being knowledgeable an important quality in a political leader? • How is the practice of politics distinct from the discipline of political science? • What issues does politics raise about the difference between knowledge and opinion? How might political controversies be triggered by developments in scientific knowledge? • Why have political leaders sometimes tried to control or eradicate specific bodies of knowledge? • With regards to politics, do we know as much as we think we know? |
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Perspectives |
• What kinds of knowledge inform our political opinions? • To what extent are our political views shaped by society, family backgrounds, education or social class? • Why do facts sometimes not change our minds? • To what extent do museums package past knowledge to serve the needs of contemporary political systems and authorities? • Given access to the same facts, how is it possible that there can be disagreement between experts on a political issue? • When exposed to numerous competing ideologies and explanations, what makes an individual settle on a particular framework? Is there ever a neutral position from which to write about politics or from which to judge political opinions? • How might knowledge reflect or perpetuate existing power structures? |
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Methods and tools |
• What impact has social media had on how we acquire and share political knowledge? • What role do reason and emotion play in the formation of our political affinities or in our voting decisions? • How might emotive language and faulty reasoning be used in politics to try to persuade and manipulate? • To what extent can polls provide reliable knowledge and accurate predictions? • What role do political authorities and institutions play in knowledge-creation and distribution? • Why are referendums sometimes regarded as a contentious decision-making tool? • In what ways may statistical evidence be used and misused to justify political actions? |
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Ethics |
• Are political judgments a type of moral judgment? • Can knowledge be divorced from the values embedded in the process of creating it? • Do political leaders and officials have different ethical obligations and responsibilities compared to members of the general public? • When the moral codes of individual nations conflict, can political organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), provide universal criteria that transcend them? On what criteria could we judge whether an action should be regarded as justifiable civil disobedience? • On what grounds might an individual believe that they know what is right for others? • Are new ethical challenges emerging from the increased use of data analytics in political activity and decision-making?
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Ethics and Global Politics by 
Contemporary Economic Sociology by 
After Communism by 
Aristotle and Modern Politics by 
Prisoners of Geography by To further your knowledge and broaden your horizons - remember to always read more than one article about a topic, discuss these opinions and debate!
Knowledge and TECHNOLOGY
This optional theme focuses on issues relating to the impact of technology on knowledge and knowers, and how technology helps and hinders our pursuit of knowledge. It examines the ways that technology can be seen to shape knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and exchange, and even the nature of knowledge itself. This theme provides an opportunity for students to engage with highly topical and engaging issues, such as those relating to the impact of artificial intelligence on knowledge and knowing. For example, there could be discussion of whether humans are needed to create new knowledge; whether machines can know, think or learn; or whether a knower is always human. It also provides excellent opportunities for discussions of ethical and power issues relating to emerging technologies.
In addition to examples arising from the “information age”, this theme also provides an opportunity for discussion of the impact of historical technological developments on knowledge and knowing. For example, students could consider the impact of developments such as mass printing or machine translation on access to knowledge.
from the Study Guide.
Making connections to the core theme
• How has increased access to images and other multimedia sources had an impact on what we know and how we know? (scope)
• How might personal prejudices, biases and inequality become “coded into” software systems? (perspectives)
• How does technology extend and modify the capabilities of our senses? (methods and tools)
• Do you use different criteria to make ethical decisions in online environments compared to in the physical world? (ethics)
It is crucial that discussions within this optional theme stay focused explicitly on knowledge rather than consisting of general discussions about technology. The following examples of knowledge questions can help to ensure this focus.
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Examples of knowledge questions |
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Scope |
• How has technology had an impact on collective memory and how knowledge is preserved? • What is the difference between “data”, “information” and “knowledge”? • To what extent is the internet changing what it means to know something? • In what sense, if any, can a machine be said to know something? • Does technology allow knowledge to reside outside of human knowers? • Does technology just allow us to arrange existing knowledge in different ways, or is this arrangement itself knowledge in some sense? • Have technological developments had the greatest impact on what we know, how we know, or how we store knowledge? |
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Perspectives |
• How are online or virtual communities similar to/different from “traditional” communities of knowers? • Do social networks reinforce our existing perspective rather than boosting our engagement with diverse perspectives? • What impact has the fact that English is the primary language of the internet had on knowledge sharing? • How has technology had an impact on how we browse, search and filter data and information? Can algorithms be biased? • Is big data creating a new cognitive paradigm? |
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Methods and tools |
• How does technology extend or transform different modes of human cognition and communication? • To what extent are technologies, such as the microscope and telescope, merely extensions to the human senses, or do they introduce radically new ways of seeing the world? • Is artificial intelligence restricted to processing information or can it also allow machines to acquire knowledge? • How does computation help people to process data and information to gain knowledge? What is the difference between computational thinking, algorithmic thinking and critical thinking? • How do the tools that we use shape the knowledge that we produce? |
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Ethics |
• How might technology exacerbate or mitigate unequal access, and divides in our access, to knowledge? • Does the existence of the deep web influence our view on whether some knowledge should remain secret or largely inaccessible? • Should we hold people responsible for the applications of technologies they develop/create? • Are there situations where ignorance/lack of knowledge is an excuse for unethical behaviour? • On what criteria could we decide whether activities such as “hacktivism” are morally justifiable? To what extent have technological developments led to an increase in data being collected without people’s consent or when they are unaware that it is being collected? |
Kant's Theory of Knowledge by 
Ethics in an Age of Technology by 
Case Studies in Information Technology Ethics by 
Masterworks of Technology by For further research and background knowledge:
Forbes magazine article: Can Wisdom, Technology And Collective Knowledge Build A Better Future?
Knowledge and RELIGION
This theme provides an opportunity for students to think carefully, critically and respectfully about knowledge and religion, and to reflect on the significant impact that religion has on how we view the world. Religion is often regarded as a sensitive area in which discussions should be had with caution, in part because people have very personal and deeply held convictions regarding religious matters. Yet many of the features that make religion such a contentious topic are exactly the features that make it highly engaging for students and hugely relevant for a course such as TOK. Religion provides rich ground for TOK discussions as religions are often complex systems of beliefs, practices, assumptions and values. Religions also raise interesting issues around the exchange of knowledge between individuals and groups.
An example of a particularly interesting area of discussion in relation to this theme concerns the concept of evidence. Critics often argue that religions lack convincing evidence to support their claims and beliefs. However, others argue that criticism surrounding the evidence for religious claims is misplaced, arguing that religious knowledge is an example of a kind of knowledge that is not based on empirical evidence. Indeed, in some traditions belief that is not based on evidence is seen as superior to belief that is based on evidence, as the demand for concrete evidence is seen to signify a lack of faith or a misunderstanding of the nature of religion.
Making connections to the core theme:
It is crucial that discussions within this optional theme stay focused explicitly on knowledge rather than consisting of general discussions about religion. The following examples of knowledge questions can help to ensure this focus.
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Examples of knowledge questions |
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Scope |
• If knowledge is a map, what is the territory that religion represents?• What is the value of thinking about questions to which there are no definite answers? • Does religion try to resolve problems that other areas can’t resolve? • Is the point of knowledge to produce meaning and purpose in our lives? • Is certainty any more or less attainable in religion than it is in the arts or human sciences? • To what extent do scientific developments have the power to influence thinking about religion? Is faith a prerequisite for religious knowledge? |
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Perspectives |
• Can there be religious knowledge that is independent of the culture that produces it? • How has our understanding and perception of religious knowledge changed over time? • Are those outside a specific religious tradition really able to understand its key ideas? • What impact has forced religious conversion had on traditional knowledge and cultural diversity? To what extent is it legitimate for a non-believer to criticise the content of a religious belief? • To what extent do you agree that there is just as much diversity of perspectives within individual religions than there is across different religions? |
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Methods and tools |
• Are religious beliefs rational? • Can theistic beliefs be considered knowledge because they are produced by a special cognitive faculty or “divine sense”? • What is the role of analogy and metaphor in the acquisition of religious knowledge? • Do ritual and habit play a special role in the formation of religious knowledge? • What difficulties are presented by using human language to discuss religious claims? • What role do authority and testimony play in the pursuit of knowledge? • How have language developments (such as the shift from Latin to the vernacular) had an impact on access to religious knowledge? • Are faith and reason interdependent? |
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Ethics |
• Do we have an ethical responsibility to gain knowledge of different religions to help us better understand the world and those around us? • Does religion provide a way to systematize concepts of right and wrong? • Do religious knowledge claims carry any particular obligation or responsibility for the knower? • What role do religious leaders and authority figures play in influencing ethical debates? • If religion is intimately connected with ethics, should we expect those with religious knowledge to act more ethically than those without it?
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World Religions by 
The Kingfisher book of religions : festivals, ceremonies, and beliefs from around the world by 
Philosophers and God by 
Belief in God in an Age of Science by These books are all available in the DIS Secondary Library! Please do go and check if your library has similar books for you!
The following articles should support your learning, give you different perspectives and more!