Previous essay titles
November 2012
1. Can we have beliefs or knowledge which are independent of our culture?
2. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (Arthur Conan Doyle). Consider the extent to which this statement may be true in two or more areas of knowledge.
3. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” (Albert Einstein) Do you agree?
4. What counts as knowledge in the arts? Discuss by comparing to one other area of knowledge.
5. “Habit is stronger than reason.” To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge?
6. “The ultimate protection against research error and bias is supposed to come from the way scientists constantly re-test each other’s results.” To what extent would you agree with this claim in the natural sciences and the human sciences?
November 2011 & May 2012
1. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this
statement in two areas of knowledge.
2. Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one or more areas of knowledge.
3. Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
4. When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
5. What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
6. ‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would you agree with this claim?
7. ‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.
8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the ToK diagram.
9. As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
10. ‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as well supported as those provided in mathematics.’ To what extent would you agree?
November 2010 & May 20111
1. Consider the extent to which knowledge issues in ethics are similar to those in at least one other area of knowledge.
2. How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge?
3. “Doubt is the key to knowledge” (Persian Proverb). To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge?
4. To what extent do we need evidence to support our beliefs in different areas of knowledge?
5. To what extent are the various areas of knowledge defined by their methodologies rather than their content?
6. “There are no absolute distinctions between what is true and what is false”. Discuss this claim.
7. How can we recognise when we have made progress in the search for knowledge? Consider two contrasting areas of knowledge.
8. “Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth” (Pablo Picasso). Evaluate this claim in relation to a specific art form (for example, visual arts, literature, theatre).
9. Discuss the roles of language and reason in history.
10. A model is a simplified representation of some aspect of the world. In what ways may models help or hinder the search for knowledge?
November 2009 & May 2010
1. To what extent is truth different in mathematics, the arts and ethics?
2. Examine the ways empirical evidence should be used to make progress in different areas of knowledge.
3. Discuss the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative data in supporting knowledge claims in the human sciences and at least one other area of knowledge.
4. How can the different ways of knowing help us to distinguish between something that is true and something that is believed to be true?
5. “What separates science from all other human activities is its belief in the provisional nature of all conclusions” (Michael Shermer, www.edge.org). Critically evaluate this way of distinguishing the sciences from other areas of knowledge.
6. All knowledge claims should be open to rational criticism. On what grounds and to what extent would you agree with this assertion?
7. “We see and understand things not as they are but as we are.” Discuss this claim in relation to at least two ways of knowing.
8. “People need to believe that order can be glimpsed in the chaos of events" (adapted from John Gray,Heresies, 2004). In what ways and to what extent would you say this claim is relevant in at least two areas of knowledge?
9. Discuss the claim that some areas of knowledge are discovered and others are invented.
10. What similarities and differences are there between historical and scientific explanations?
November 2008 & May 2009
1 “Science is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks: but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house” (Henri Poincaré). Discuss in relation to science and at least one other area of knowledge.
2 When should we trust our senses to give us truth?
3 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing.
4 “Seek simplicity, and distrust it” (Alfred North Whitehead). Is this always good advice for a knower?
5 “In expanding the field of knowledge we but increase the horizon of ignorance” (Henry Miller). Is this true?
6. Compare and contrast our approach to knowledge about the past with our approach to knowledge about the future.
7. “Moral wisdom seems to be as little connected to knowledge of ethical theory as playing good tennis is to knowledge of physics” (Emrys Westacott). To what extent should our actions be guided by our theories in ethics and elsewhere?
8. To understand something you need to rely on your own experience and culture. Does this mean that it is impossible to have objective knowledge?
9. “The knowledge that we value the most is the knowledge for which we can provide the strongest justifications.” To what extent would you agree with this claim?
10 . “There can be no knowledge without emotion…. until we have felt the force of the knowledge, it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett). Discuss this vision of the relationship between knowledge and emotion
November 2007 & May 2008
1. Evaluate the role of intuition in different areas of knowledge.
2. Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions?
3. “History is always on the move, slowly eroding today’s orthodoxy and making space for yesterday’s heresy.” Discuss the extent to which this claim applies to history and at least one other area of knowledge.
4. Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?
5. “…we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” (Noam Chomsky). To what extent would you agree?
6. In areas of knowledge such as the arts and the sciences, do we learn more from work that follows or that breaks with accepted conventions?
7. Our senses tell us that a table, for example, is a solid object; science tells us that the table is mostly empty space. Thus two sources of knowledge generate conflicting results. Can we reconcile such conflicts?
8. Are some ways of knowing more likely than others to lead to truth?
9. Mathematicians have the concept of rigorous proof, which leads to knowing something with complete certainty. Consider the extent to which complete certainty might be achievable in mathematics and at least one other area of knowledge.
10 . “Context is all” (Margaret Atwood). Does this mean that there is no such thing as truth?
November 2006 & May 2007
1. When mathematicians, historians and scientists say that they have explained something, are they using the word 'explain' in the same way?
2. It is often claimed that scientific results must be replicable. Is this possible or desirable in other Areas of Knowledge?
3. If someone claims that both the division of knowledge into disciplines and the division of the world into countries on a map are artificial, what does this mean? What is the nature of the boundaries between Areas of Knowledge, in your view?
4. Is it an oversimplification to claim that some Ways of Knowing give us facts while others provide interpretations?
5. Can literature "tell the truth" better than other Arts or Areas of Knowledge?
6. Compare the roles played by reason and imagination in at least two areas of knowledge.
7. Discuss the ways in which value judgments should and should not be used in different Areas of Knowledge.
8. Some experts (athletes, dancers, musicians, visual artists, cabinet makers, lab technicians, mechanics, surgeons, etc.) may have acquired knowledge that is difficult to describe in words. Does this mean that other Ways of Knowing play a more important role than language in knowing how to do something?
9. Can a machine know?
10. Belief has been described as "certainty about what cannot be seen". Does this statement hold true in any, some or all Areas of Knowledge?
1. Can we have beliefs or knowledge which are independent of our culture?
2. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (Arthur Conan Doyle). Consider the extent to which this statement may be true in two or more areas of knowledge.
3. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” (Albert Einstein) Do you agree?
4. What counts as knowledge in the arts? Discuss by comparing to one other area of knowledge.
5. “Habit is stronger than reason.” To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge?
6. “The ultimate protection against research error and bias is supposed to come from the way scientists constantly re-test each other’s results.” To what extent would you agree with this claim in the natural sciences and the human sciences?
November 2011 & May 2012
1. Knowledge is generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Evaluate this
statement in two areas of knowledge.
2. Compare and contrast knowledge which can be expressed in words/symbols with knowledge that cannot be expressed in this way. Consider CAS and one or more areas of knowledge.
3. Using history and at least one other area of knowledge, examine the claim that it is possible to attain knowledge despite problems of bias and selection.
4. When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?
5. What is it about theories in the human sciences and natural sciences that makes them convincing?
6. ‘It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or facts’. To what extent would you agree with this claim?
7. ‘The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know’. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.
8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the ToK diagram.
9. As an IB student, how has your learning of literature and science contributed to your understanding of individuals and societies?
10. ‘Through different methods of justification, we can reach conclusions in ethics that are as well supported as those provided in mathematics.’ To what extent would you agree?
November 2010 & May 20111
1. Consider the extent to which knowledge issues in ethics are similar to those in at least one other area of knowledge.
2. How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge?
3. “Doubt is the key to knowledge” (Persian Proverb). To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge?
4. To what extent do we need evidence to support our beliefs in different areas of knowledge?
5. To what extent are the various areas of knowledge defined by their methodologies rather than their content?
6. “There are no absolute distinctions between what is true and what is false”. Discuss this claim.
7. How can we recognise when we have made progress in the search for knowledge? Consider two contrasting areas of knowledge.
8. “Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth” (Pablo Picasso). Evaluate this claim in relation to a specific art form (for example, visual arts, literature, theatre).
9. Discuss the roles of language and reason in history.
10. A model is a simplified representation of some aspect of the world. In what ways may models help or hinder the search for knowledge?
November 2009 & May 2010
1. To what extent is truth different in mathematics, the arts and ethics?
2. Examine the ways empirical evidence should be used to make progress in different areas of knowledge.
3. Discuss the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative data in supporting knowledge claims in the human sciences and at least one other area of knowledge.
4. How can the different ways of knowing help us to distinguish between something that is true and something that is believed to be true?
5. “What separates science from all other human activities is its belief in the provisional nature of all conclusions” (Michael Shermer, www.edge.org). Critically evaluate this way of distinguishing the sciences from other areas of knowledge.
6. All knowledge claims should be open to rational criticism. On what grounds and to what extent would you agree with this assertion?
7. “We see and understand things not as they are but as we are.” Discuss this claim in relation to at least two ways of knowing.
8. “People need to believe that order can be glimpsed in the chaos of events" (adapted from John Gray,Heresies, 2004). In what ways and to what extent would you say this claim is relevant in at least two areas of knowledge?
9. Discuss the claim that some areas of knowledge are discovered and others are invented.
10. What similarities and differences are there between historical and scientific explanations?
November 2008 & May 2009
1 “Science is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks: but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house” (Henri Poincaré). Discuss in relation to science and at least one other area of knowledge.
2 When should we trust our senses to give us truth?
3 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of reason as a way of knowing.
4 “Seek simplicity, and distrust it” (Alfred North Whitehead). Is this always good advice for a knower?
5 “In expanding the field of knowledge we but increase the horizon of ignorance” (Henry Miller). Is this true?
6. Compare and contrast our approach to knowledge about the past with our approach to knowledge about the future.
7. “Moral wisdom seems to be as little connected to knowledge of ethical theory as playing good tennis is to knowledge of physics” (Emrys Westacott). To what extent should our actions be guided by our theories in ethics and elsewhere?
8. To understand something you need to rely on your own experience and culture. Does this mean that it is impossible to have objective knowledge?
9. “The knowledge that we value the most is the knowledge for which we can provide the strongest justifications.” To what extent would you agree with this claim?
10 . “There can be no knowledge without emotion…. until we have felt the force of the knowledge, it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett). Discuss this vision of the relationship between knowledge and emotion
November 2007 & May 2008
1. Evaluate the role of intuition in different areas of knowledge.
2. Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions?
3. “History is always on the move, slowly eroding today’s orthodoxy and making space for yesterday’s heresy.” Discuss the extent to which this claim applies to history and at least one other area of knowledge.
4. Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?
5. “…we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” (Noam Chomsky). To what extent would you agree?
6. In areas of knowledge such as the arts and the sciences, do we learn more from work that follows or that breaks with accepted conventions?
7. Our senses tell us that a table, for example, is a solid object; science tells us that the table is mostly empty space. Thus two sources of knowledge generate conflicting results. Can we reconcile such conflicts?
8. Are some ways of knowing more likely than others to lead to truth?
9. Mathematicians have the concept of rigorous proof, which leads to knowing something with complete certainty. Consider the extent to which complete certainty might be achievable in mathematics and at least one other area of knowledge.
10 . “Context is all” (Margaret Atwood). Does this mean that there is no such thing as truth?
November 2006 & May 2007
1. When mathematicians, historians and scientists say that they have explained something, are they using the word 'explain' in the same way?
2. It is often claimed that scientific results must be replicable. Is this possible or desirable in other Areas of Knowledge?
3. If someone claims that both the division of knowledge into disciplines and the division of the world into countries on a map are artificial, what does this mean? What is the nature of the boundaries between Areas of Knowledge, in your view?
4. Is it an oversimplification to claim that some Ways of Knowing give us facts while others provide interpretations?
5. Can literature "tell the truth" better than other Arts or Areas of Knowledge?
6. Compare the roles played by reason and imagination in at least two areas of knowledge.
7. Discuss the ways in which value judgments should and should not be used in different Areas of Knowledge.
8. Some experts (athletes, dancers, musicians, visual artists, cabinet makers, lab technicians, mechanics, surgeons, etc.) may have acquired knowledge that is difficult to describe in words. Does this mean that other Ways of Knowing play a more important role than language in knowing how to do something?
9. Can a machine know?
10. Belief has been described as "certainty about what cannot be seen". Does this statement hold true in any, some or all Areas of Knowledge?