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Theory of Knowledge Essay Grade B (1 point to Grade A!) - International Baccalaureate

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Module
TOK International Baccalaureate

Institution
5

This is my Theory of Knowledge Essay Grade B (1 point to Grade A!) on the International Baccalaureate. From a previous session, but useful to compare how to write a TOK essay and also serves as inspiration to possible essays and presentations! My essay title was: “We know with confidence only ...

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Uploaded on July 30, 2021
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Institution Secondary school
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TOK International Baccalaureate
School year 5

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“We know with confidence only when we know little; with knowledge doubt
increases” (adapted from JW von Goethe). Discuss this statement with reference to
two areas of knowledge.

Confidence can coexist with doubt. In order to exemplify this I will use an analogy that
we developed during T.O.K. classes. In it, knowledge is compared to the physical
properties of particles - gas, liquid and solid. Knowledge can be gassy when questioning
what is still unknown and what there is uncertainty about. However, in order to know
something, an individual should also have confidence in it as either false or correct in
order to be constantly developing new ideas. Having complete confidence on
knowledge is thus represented as solid. During our discussions, we came to the
conclusion that in our everyday lives, knowledge is neither a solid nor a gas. This is
because knowledge does not contain only questions and doubts (being it a gas) nor
does it encompass solely concrete and confident answers (solid). It actually consists of
a mixture of these two states, forming the liquid knowledge. Thus, liquid knowledge is
based on both questions and answers, on what is not known and what is actually
known. This process can diverge, depending upon the different areas of knowledge. For
instance, in the Natural Sciences, theories may be groundbreaking and cause a pattern
shift, but at the same time they can solidify one perspective of knowledge towards a
particular case study. However, in History doubt usually coexists with confidence,
because there are multiple perspectives towards the events of the past. These various
points of view may generate doubt towards what really happened. To investigate the
relationship between doubt and confidence, History and the Natural Sciences will be
used.

Historical knowledge is filled with different perspectives, which create doubt
regarding what really happened in the past. Therefore, when knowing little about the
past, it is easier to have confidence of the facts. However, when History is analysed
profoundly, different views need to be taken in consideration in order to make the
historian analyse the more important facts. This generates disagreement about the
past between scholars and thus, doubt towards what happened. These characteristics

, “We know with confidence only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases”
(adapted from JW von Goethe). Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of
knowledge.

of historical knowledge raise the question: Is confidence present in History only when
there is little knowledge? I am going to use a personal example to exemplify that. When
I was beginning to learn about the emergence of Hitler in Germany, I used to consider
the structuralist perspective as the right one. It argues that Hitler emerged as an
authoritarian leader easily because of the fragility of the german economy and politics
(TODD et al, 2015). In other words, I knew relatively little and I had confidence
towards it. However, the more I learnt about it, the more doubt I had about his
emergence, because I took other perspectives in consideration. For example, the
intentionalist argues that Hitler came to power mainly because of his ideas; the
determinist that the Third Reich was implemented in Germany because of its historical
development as a country (TODD et al, 2015). Therefore, the more knowledge I had
about the topic, the more doubt I had towards my knowledge on his emergence.

On the other hand, are historians acknowledged because of their ideas or about their
authority (books published, PhD)? Considering the previous example, by
acknowledging other views with the same intensity as mine may have been an example
of an authoritarian fallacy. I considered the historical background, if the historians
were cited in my history school book and amount of study in order to learn their
theories. Consequently I had doubt towards what happened because I could have
generated dependency on historians opinions and lost confidence on my own view of
the facts. Even though doubt has an important impact in developing knowledge - as it
questions aiming to reach answers - it may also generate dependency on authorities.

There can be coexistence of doubt and confidence in History. Historical sources are
used to solidify the knowledge of a historian regarding the events of the past, providing
them confidence. Meanwhile, new facts that were previously unknown generate doubt.
Moreover, different historical perspectives generate confidence towards historical
facts, but doubt about the most important ones. Therefore, is it possible to have a
coexistence between doubt and confidence in History? This coexistence can be seen in

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