Essay 1 Nov 23: Facts alone - Enough?
ToK Essay 1 Nov 23 Facts alone - are they enough to prove a claim ? This question gives you the freedom to choose any two areas of knowledge to discuss. Choose wisely as this will make writing the essay far easier.
Structure - it's a fact!
Students are advised to choose two areas of knowledge which give them good contrasts in both the production of knowledge, and have contrasting methodologies for proving claims.
If your two areas of knowledge differ a lot in these areas then it will be easier to develop evaluation points (giving you higher marks in your ToK essay).
In this essay we’re going to try to develop a continuum of arguments. We want to make some arguments that facts are enough to prove claims. In doing so we’re going to be interested in different ways of proving claims, different types of proof, and varying definitions of proof.
We are also going to want to make some arguments that facts are not enough to prove claims, and we’ll consider what other things might be needed to prove claims (and in doing so we’re going to bring in ToK concepts like evidence, justification, interpretation and maybe even TRUTH).
The command term is “Discuss”, therefore you need to consider different perspectives in the essay. (We have produced 10 Arguments for Essay #1 November 2023 that cover a range of different knowledge arguments that could be used - you can pick those notes up from this link).
What makes a fact: necessary or sufficient?
We could think about this question in terms of whether facts are necessary or sufficient to prove a claim. At a more sophisticated level we could consider what is necessary, and what is sufficient, to establish a fact in the first place.
Necessary conditions are conditions that must be met in order for a particular outcome to occur, while sufficient conditions are conditions that, if met, will guarantee that the outcome will occur. Here are some examples that illustrate the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions:
Necessary but not sufficient: In order to pass a maths test, it is necessary to know the material. However, knowing the material is not sufficient to guarantee that one will pass the test. Other factors, such as test-taking skills and time management, may also be necessary to pass the test.
Sufficient but not necessary: If a person has a college degree, it may be sufficient to qualify for a particular job. However, having a college degree is not a necessary condition for all jobs, as some may require other qualifications or skills.
Both necessary and sufficient: In order to become a licensed physician, it is both necessary and sufficient to graduate from medical school and complete a residency program. This means that without completing these requirements, one cannot become a licensed physician, and completing them guarantees that one will become a licensed physician.
Neither necessary nor sufficient: Having a driver's licence is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for owning a car. While having a licence may be helpful, it is not necessary as some people may choose to hire a driver or use public transportation. Additionally, having a licence is not sufficient as owning a car also requires purchasing or leasing a vehicle.
Applying different types of facts to Areas of Knowledge
Setting up the different conditions for what is sufficient, and what is necessary, to prove a claim can change whether a claim is proven. Different Areas of Knowledge will have different criteria for defining what is necessary, and what is sufficient, for proof. Do these constitute "facts alone?"
Turning to some of the arguments that facts alone are not sufficient to prove a claim. When we look at some of the more qualitative Areas of Knowledge such as The Arts or History, facts are not quite as definitive as they are in the Sciences or Maths. This can give us a bit more freedom to debate whether facts can stand alone as proof of a claim.
In both AoK The Arts and AoK History we could have a good discussion about what a fact is, you could consider:
Who is constructing the fact.
Their intention / purpose for constructing it.
Who validates it as a fact.
What knowledge was included, and what was excluded in the establishment of the fact.
What are the perspectives which both led to, and arise from, the fact.
What values underlie the fact.
If you follow this argument you need to remember that the essay title is not whether facts exist, but whether they can be used alone to prove a claim. As such, this argument is that no fact exists entirely on its own, but all facts are subject to a knowledge construction process, and the degree to which a fact proves something depends upon the degree to which the knowledge production process is accepted as objective.
The role of perspectives is crucial in the construction of facts in both AoK The Arts and AoK History. Further, different methods of knowledge construction can produce different facts. This means that maybe different types of proof are needed for different types of evidence, maybe we could have differing thresholds of proof, or maybe proof isn’t possible at all, despite the so-called “facts”. We could consider this in terms of a hierarchical construction of proof in a power based value system
These arguments can also apply to AoK Maths, Human Sciences, and Natural Sciences.
Considering AoK The Arts in a bit more detail. We may want to consider what constitutes a fact in artistic knowledge. Is the meaning of artistic knowledge decided by the audience or by the artist?
Knowledge arguments could be developed around the connotation and denotation of knowledge. Part of the essay could be based on the debate between artistic knowledge as object vs artistic knowledge as a process of subject.
The role of context in the production of knowledge (in any AoK) could also be considered. Context can be applied to any of the areas of knowledge, it can change both the definition and labelling of facts, the production of knowledge, and the interpretation of knowledge. Context opens up a range of ToK concepts such as Culture, Interpretation, Justification, Explanation and Objectivity.
This is just a very brief overview of a few of the issues that we explore in detail in 10 Knowledge Arguments for Essay#1 November 23. Those notes give you:
detailed knowledge arguments
definitions of terms
evaluation points
implications
suggestions for real life situations.
Those notes are over 10,000 words long, so there’s more than enough there to help you with your essay.
Secondly, We have “25 questions for Chat GPT to help you with your ToK Essay”. IB are allowing you to use ChatGPT (and other AI’s) in your ToK Essay, so long as you properly reference content that it produces. The thing with ChatGPT is that you have to know exactly the right questions to ask it to get the right content and answers out of it. This document will help you to ask it the right questions.
