1. How does Bertrand Russell differentiate between “knowledge by acquaintance” and “knowledge by description”? (check out the footnote at bottom of p. 19)
Russell claims that “knowledge by acquaintance” is direct and immediate and consists of raw “feelings”, while “knowledge by description” is descriptive of fact and couched in propositions.
2. How does Abel distinguish between “knowing how” and “knowing that”?
Abel claims that “knowing that” is a propositional knowledge, while “knowing how” cannot be fully specified in propositional knowledge.
3. What does he mean when he asks: “can knowing how theoretically always be reduced to knowing that? What is Abel’s answer? What do you think?
By this he means “can you know how to do something and always know why it is able to be done?” (like in the example of riding a bicycle). His answer is that this is not always true. I agree with that answer because I think that there are some things that you know through an emotional state that cannot be explained rationally.
4. How does language become a problem of knowledge?
It is not possible to fully state the rules for some ordinary English usages which we all know how to employ.
5. What do you think William James means when he says: “Life defies our phrases?”
Some experiences cannot not be explained rationally.
6. What, according to Abel, is the difference between “experience” and “propositional knowledge”?
Abel claims that “experience” includes everything we do and everything that happens to us, encompassing sensations and emotions, while “propositional knowledge” describes and explains experiences.
7. What are Abel’s Four Conditions for propositional knowledge? Where have we seen this before? Why does he add a Fourth Condition?
The proposition must be true, must be believed, must be justified, and must not be undermined by other evidence. These were seen when we were studying Plato’s definition of “Truth”. He adds the Fourth Condition because it is so easy for someone to mistake something they truly thought they “knew”.
8. What are Abel’s Nine Good Reasons or Evidence which serve as the Basis of Knowledge? Please give an example for each that is not in the book!
Sense perception (I know the food taste bad because I can taste it), logic (I know the Earth is round because I can prove it), intuition (I know it is wrong to steel because my intuition tells me so), self-awareness (I know I am hungry because I feel it), memory (I know where the house is because I remember how to get there), authority (I know WWI happened because the teacher told me so), consensus gentium (I know Bob is a mean person because everyone says so), revelation (I know that I must do this because it is the will of the gods), faith (I know I will go to heaven when I die because I have faith).
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
TOK Notes
Academic Knowledge
Plato: “knowledge” had to be describe and communicated with certainty
Platonic Knowledge/ Knowledge by Description/ Propositonal Knowledge (formal statement of convincing knowledge, “knowing that”)
Test/ Conditions for Knowing:
1.) Justified- authority, empirical, rational, memory
2.) True
3.) Belief
All are necessary but not sufficient by themselves
Truth:
1.) Public- Dog has to be friendly to all (if you say “I know my dog is nice)
2.) Independent- separate from personal beliefs
3.) Eternal- But must be true now and forever
Empiricism/ Experimental
Induction:
See it
Smell it
Feel it
Touch it
Hear it
Taste it
(the senses)
(I see my watch say 7:30, the bus arrives, therefore the bus must arrive at 7:30)
Rationalism (Deduction, General Theory)/ Academic
Instructed
A prior knowledge
Knowledge that comes before
(the bus schedual says the bus arrives at 7:30, therefore the bus arrives at 7:30)
Plato: “knowledge” had to be describe and communicated with certainty
Platonic Knowledge/ Knowledge by Description/ Propositonal Knowledge (formal statement of convincing knowledge, “knowing that”)
Test/ Conditions for Knowing:
1.) Justified- authority, empirical, rational, memory
2.) True
3.) Belief
All are necessary but not sufficient by themselves
Truth:
1.) Public- Dog has to be friendly to all (if you say “I know my dog is nice)
2.) Independent- separate from personal beliefs
3.) Eternal- But must be true now and forever
Empiricism/ Experimental
Induction:
See it
Smell it
Feel it
Touch it
Hear it
Taste it
(the senses)
(I see my watch say 7:30, the bus arrives, therefore the bus must arrive at 7:30)
Rationalism (Deduction, General Theory)/ Academic
Instructed
A prior knowledge
Knowledge that comes before
(the bus schedual says the bus arrives at 7:30, therefore the bus arrives at 7:30)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
No Corn
So far I have not been able to find a processed food that ddi not contain some form of corn, but I'll keep looking.
Corn
Flour Tortilla: Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, vegetable shortening (may contain one or more of the following: hydrogenated soybean oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides added), contains 2% or less of the following: sugar, leavening (sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, sodium phosphate, baking soda, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), salt, wheat gluten, dough conditioners (sodium metabisulfite, distilled monoglycerides).
Fries
How would Gladwell respond to the responsibility question from September 15th?
I think Gladwell would respond to the responsibility question from September 15th first by saying that none of the information in The Omnivor’s Delema surprised him since he is clearly highly educated about mass produced food as shown in his article. Then I believe he would say that the producer of the knowledge of what goes into food has the responsibility of not telling you about transparently because when the revolution of turning fast food into healthy food occurs, if they tell you the food is healthy, you wont want to eat it because people associate bad food with good taste and good food with bad taste, and there wont really be a revolution at all. I also believe Gladwell would say that if we were to discover of this information that is being kept from us that our responsibility as a knower would be to try and be open to the possibility that even healthy foods can taste good.
I think Gladwell would respond to the responsibility question from September 15th first by saying that none of the information in The Omnivor’s Delema surprised him since he is clearly highly educated about mass produced food as shown in his article. Then I believe he would say that the producer of the knowledge of what goes into food has the responsibility of not telling you about transparently because when the revolution of turning fast food into healthy food occurs, if they tell you the food is healthy, you wont want to eat it because people associate bad food with good taste and good food with bad taste, and there wont really be a revolution at all. I also believe Gladwell would say that if we were to discover of this information that is being kept from us that our responsibility as a knower would be to try and be open to the possibility that even healthy foods can taste good.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Did any information in the book come as a surprise to you? If so, why do you think that specific piece of knowledge was kept from you? Does the producer of this knowledge have any responsibility? What is your responsibility as a knower?
Though nothing I read in the book really came as much of a surprise to me, I still was unaware of a lot of the information the book contained. I believe the knowledge from the book that I was unaware of was kept from me so that I would not have to be concerned about the consequences involved in the process of producing the foods I eat, and therefore I would continue to consume these foods for the profit of corporate businesses, oblivious of the truth about these foods which would otherwise cause me to reconsider the choices I make in the grocery store. The producer of this knowledge that I am so oblivious to has a responsibility to disclose that information to me so that I may have a better understanding of what I put into my body. And I too have a responsibility as a knower of this information to use it to my own advantage to make sure that what I put into my body is in my own best interest.
Though nothing I read in the book really came as much of a surprise to me, I still was unaware of a lot of the information the book contained. I believe the knowledge from the book that I was unaware of was kept from me so that I would not have to be concerned about the consequences involved in the process of producing the foods I eat, and therefore I would continue to consume these foods for the profit of corporate businesses, oblivious of the truth about these foods which would otherwise cause me to reconsider the choices I make in the grocery store. The producer of this knowledge that I am so oblivious to has a responsibility to disclose that information to me so that I may have a better understanding of what I put into my body. And I too have a responsibility as a knower of this information to use it to my own advantage to make sure that what I put into my body is in my own best interest.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
How Do We Know What We Know?
Everything I know comes from the observations I make. I analyze what I see around me and I draw conclusions based on the facts I find. This method can be applied to any aspect of my life, for example, I learn many thing from the people around me, whether it be at school or anywhere else, people tell me things, (like how teachers tell me things they want me to learn and how friends tell me things they want me to know), I digest what they say, contemplate it, judge it, and decide if its valuable enough to hold on to and store in my memory. This method can also be applied to reading a book or watching a movie, analyze the information being gathered, decide if it’s useful, and keep it or lose it. It’s a very scientific way to think about the world but its how I know what I know.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Do Parents Matter?
How would Gladwell respond to the identity question from August 27th? How would Levitt and Dubner respond?
Gladwell would respond to my answer of the identity question from August 27th with disagreement, and by talking about how it is not our family that creates our identity, but our surrounding environment outside our household. Gladwell would argue that the experiences we have outside our family environment, mainly with other human beings beside our family, affect us the most in the long run, and would probably note that these experiences would be very closely related to our sex, name (if it was ridiculous enough), and nationality. Levitt and Dubner would most likely agree with some aspects of my answer but not all, they would argue that it is in fact your family that determines your identity. Levitt and Dubner would say that it all depends on what kinds of genes run in your family and which ones you get that make the difference, and they too would probably take into account the fact that sex and nationality would greatly affect that, (though not so much your name).
Gladwell would respond to my answer of the identity question from August 27th with disagreement, and by talking about how it is not our family that creates our identity, but our surrounding environment outside our household. Gladwell would argue that the experiences we have outside our family environment, mainly with other human beings beside our family, affect us the most in the long run, and would probably note that these experiences would be very closely related to our sex, name (if it was ridiculous enough), and nationality. Levitt and Dubner would most likely agree with some aspects of my answer but not all, they would argue that it is in fact your family that determines your identity. Levitt and Dubner would say that it all depends on what kinds of genes run in your family and which ones you get that make the difference, and they too would probably take into account the fact that sex and nationality would greatly affect that, (though not so much your name).
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