Theory of Knowledge

While there are arguably many ways that we arrive at knowledge, the TOK course identifies eight specific ways of knowing (WOKs). They are:

 

 

• language

• sense perception

• emotion

• reason

• imagination

• faith

• intuition

• memory

 

Ways of knowing don’t operate in isolation. For example, even a simple claim, such as “winter inversions in Utah are devastating,” involves a number of ways or knowing.  We need language to be able to understand what the words “inversion” and “devastating” signify. We need to be able to understand rudimentary science principles to know what an inversion is and what damage it causes. We need sense perception to experience the effects of an inversion. The claim is tied up with emotion and is tempered by reason. It might involve faith—a belief that things could be different if society behaved differently—or even memory of what the valley was like when fewer cars were on the road and the air was clean.

 

TOK helps students to understand how various ways of knowing interact as we construct knowledge and encourages them to examine how that process differs in various areas of knowledge.