How can we know current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge? (Exhibition prompt 13)
Guidance notes for Prompt 13 are available from this link.
These notes include:
An overview explanation of the prompt.
Examples of three knowledge claims for the prompt.
Suggestions for the types of object that would be appropriate for each knowledge claim.
How to structure the ToK Exhibition Commentary.
Knowledge arguments before objects.
I recommend writing knowledge arguments BEFORE you choose objects. I know it’s tempting to choose objects first, but if you can write 3 knowledge arguments first not only will your objects be easier to choose, but it will be far easier to "access the higher mark bands, and we all want higher scores."justify the inclusion of each particular object in the exhibition" (required for the higher mark bands).
Unpacking the prompt
How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge?
The first terms that jump out are current and past. When is current current and when does it become past ? So, current & past can be relative terms. The next term that interests me is improvement. We could define an ‘improvement’ in knowledge in many different ways, for example:
The current knowledge is more functional than past knowledge, that means it has more uses or usability.
The current knowledge could be more effective than past knowledge.
The current knowledge could be more ethical than past knowledge. That’s contentious, so I think we’ll come back to that one.
The current knowledge might fulfil the intention of the knowledge producer better than past knowledge. This can also be contentious when we consider who produces knowledge & why.
The current knowledge could produce more unexpected benefits than previous knowledge. I like this idea, it gives us a window to serendipitous knowledge production.
The current knowledge could allow for more synthesis across various Areas of Knowledge than past knowledge.
These are all various ways in which we could define improvement in knowledge, there are many other ways, you can devise your own measure of improvement.
The common mistake with prompt 13
A common mistake is interpret the prompt as asking whether current knowledge is an improvement over past knowledge. However, the prompt is actually asking how can we know whether current knowledge is an improvement over past knowledge. As such, we need to focus on ways in which we might know about improvement in knowledge.
Ways in which we might "know" about improvements in knowledge.
A few ways in which we know things include:
we have evidence for it
we are able to measure it
it is observable to us
we have experienced it
we are able to compare current knowledge with past knowledge
There are many many different ways to know things and I'm sure that some of you will be able to come up with better ways of knowing than I can.
Knowledge Arguments
To write the knowledge arguments we're just together the two important parts of the prompt: how we know things, and ways to define improvements.
Knowledge Argument 2 is slightly contentious because some would argue that we can only assess ethics by the standards of the time in which you live. One of the counter-arguments to this is to focus on the methodology of assessment rather than the context of assessment. So, I’ve written this KA to use reason as the means or methodology by which we know.
Knowledge Argument 3 may also be a little contentious by taking the line that we may not know something, this is a small risk that should be OK because we’ve already shown 2 ways in which we can know something, so now I’m taking a more critical approach to the question. I’m also drawing upon the core unit in ToK Knowledge and The Knower.
Choosing Objects
IB strongly recommend that you choose things that are of significance to you. These could be things that you have studied in your DP, or things that you are personally interested in. I have chosen 3 things that I am interested in, but you will probably have different interests, so you should choose different objects to mine.
Knowledge Argument 1: We know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge when objective evidence demonstrates current knowledge to be more effective than past knowledge.
The object that I’ve chosen to demonstrate this KA is a scientific epidemiological report from the US Centre for Disease Control on the control of the viral disease Smallpox through the use of the Smallpox vaccine. The report gives quantitative objective statistical evidence of the vastly reduced incidence of smallpox arising from use of the vaccine.
Knowledge Argument 2: The second knowledge argument is that We know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge if it is reasoned to be more ethical by contemporary standards of ethics.
I’ve chosen The European Convention on Human Rights to demonstrate this. The convention arises from a contemporary understanding of ethics arising from the use of reason as a way of knowing during the 18th & 19th century period of European Enlightenment. My argument being that reason as a way of knowing allows us to know that current knowledge is an improvement over past knowledge.
The third knowledge argument is that we may not know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge if our knowledge of improvement is mainly derived from the experience of the knower.
The object that I’ve chosen to illustrate this argument is a modern documentary film made about Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The documentary compares the experience of current forms of entertainment with the experience of watching plays at Shakespeare’s Globe in the sixteenth century. My argument being that if we measure improvement of knowledge in terms of the experience of the knower then we can’t be certain that the experience of contemporary forms of entertainment are necessarily an improvement of past forms of entertainment. Experience is an individual phenomenon which cannot be satisfactorily compared across time, place, nor other contexts.
Make it personal and specific
You will probably develop different knowledge arguments, and use different objects to mine. But I just wanted to show you how to unpack this prompt, some different ways to think about the prompt, and ways in which to move from knowledge arguments to objects. Making the objects relevant and significant to you is an important part of the ToK Exhibition
Stay Toktastic my friends.
Daniel, Lisbon, Jan 2024