TOK 101: Areas of Knowledge Explained

The Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course is split into two parts. Themes, and Areas of Knowledge. For the exhibition, students focus on the themes learned during the first year of the IB Diploma Programme, while the TOK Essay focuses on the Areas of Knowledge (AOK) primarily introduced in the latter half of their TOK education.

As AOKs form the foundation of the TOK Essay assessment which account for two thirds of your TOK grade, it is very important to have a good grasp of each AOK and revisit them when it comes time to plan, and write your TOK Essay.

This article is meant to serve as both a summary of, and a useful tool for revision of each AOK. Consider it a crash course of sorts for the AOKs. I will focus on the key properties of each AOK that may be important for you in your TOK essay.

The areas of knowledge within the TOK syllabus include:

1. History

2. Human Sciences

3. Natural Sciences

4. The Arts

5. Mathematics

History

History studies past events. However, this is more focused on our human past rather than the past or 'old stuff' in general. So the history of the Roman Empire would fit within the AOK of History but dinosaur fossils are not. It has direct links to the IB History course.

The production of knowledge is based upon the historical method. This youtube video could be helpful to explain this method.

Some interesting points about how knowledge is produced in History include:

1. The lack of direct observation means a reliance on documentary evidence which can be influenced or coloured by other people's perspectives and interpretations.

2. When there are contradictory sources of evidence, it may be hard to prove which is true or more reliable. You can't exactly ask the dead how the past happened!

3. Even producers of historical knowledge can be influenced by social norms, leading to different interpretations and perspectives on historical events over time.

4. Some historical events are sparsely recorded, while others are covered extensively. How do we decide what merits recording?

5. Overall, the idea of interpretation, bias and power are core concepts to this AOK and what distinguishes history from the 'hard' sciences.

Acqusition of historical knowledge can also have profound impacts on how society develops. The common saying that 'history repeats itself' may hold true, but the TOK guide also suggest that historical knowledge can lead to greater empathy and understanding between each other. Do you think this is true?

Human Sciences

This is a very broad AOK in the TOK guide. It essentially encompasses all group 3 individuals and societies subjects like Economics, Psychology, Digital Society, etc. It is the study of humans and how we act and the nature of our existence.

The production of knowledge can be quite similar to the Natural Sciences as they are both 'Science' AOKs, but the broad nature of the 'Human Sciences' means there isn't as much a unified methodology as you might find in the Natural Sciences. Here's some discussion points:

1. They are both sciences, but what are the differences between their methodologies, and the different nuances towards their own interpretation of the scientific method?

2. Despite the commonality of human nature, each discipline within Human Sciences could have very different methodologies. I'm sure you could agree that while Psychology and Economics could share similar methodologies, they are quite different in their own ways. Do you think this is a strength or weakness to this AOK?

3. Humans are really complex. Some could argue that we could never truly capture our nature and existence. So what makes this AOK valuable? How do we produce reliable knowledge in this AOK?

4. There are often criticisms that Human Sciences or Social Sciences are 'useless' as they don't tell us anything we don't know about ourselves already, but some also argue they have outsized influence on our everday lives such as in government policy and product marketing. How can this AOK be used for good and also malicious ways?

A good summary of what to lookout for in this AOK can be found in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVBQbeu0xzg

Natural sciences

As part of your IB Diploma, you will study at least one science discipline so most students should be very familiar with this AOK. But also makes it a bit harder to think more macroscopically about the way that knowledge is produced, and acquired in this AOK.

The key to this AOK is the scientific method. It is the foundation of what distinguishes the Natural Sciences from other areas of knowledge. It examines the natural world and all that occurs in it through experimentation and observation. In fact, the way that knowledge is produced in this AOK is so influential that we often get an extension of such methodologies to other fields, such as the Human Sciences and History. If you look closely, you can find similarities and core foundations in common with the Scientific Method.

There are many variations to the scientific method but one such example below represents the essence of what the method encompasses.

Some interesting thoughts for this AOK:

1. While the method as such is near universal, how do different disciplines interpret each stage of the Scientific Method differently?

2. Does this method minimise bias or does it encourage and introduce other forms of uncertainty into produced knowledge?

3. How are scientific theories different to theories in other areas of knowledge?

4. Can the reliability we associate with the Natural Sciences be abused? What is the ethical responsibility for those who produce and communicate knowledge in this AOK?

Arts

Arts is perhaps the broadest AOK within the whole syllabus. Almost anything can constitute as art, as you may well know if you vist a modern art museum. They can be physical, digital, tactile, or not. As such, the purpose to the AOK and the knowledge they posess is more vague. If we were to generalise the arts, it could be anything that you can interact with to produce some sort of emotional response. Everything from Visuals, to theatre to dance to music. The fluidity could be really interesting as the definitions of the boundaries (scope) of this AOK can change overtime according to societal perceptions and values.

From the perspective of the artist who produces knowledge in this AOK, think about:

1. The specific purpose behind why knowledge is produced. Some art could be to incite action, provoke thought, simply let out emotion, capture complex ideas, etc.

2. The influences and biases towards what knowledge is produced. Is this a good or bad thing that there isn't an inherent focus on objectivity?

For us, who are trying to acquire knowledge in this AOK:

1. Think about stylistic changes of arts overtime. With different movements of thought, paradigm shifts reflect artists' changing views of the world.

2. How can artists communicate their intended meaning? What if we have alternate interpretations of works? Is this a strength or a weakness?

Mathematics

This is another AOK that students will be very exposed to. Almost everyone knows some form of Mathematics. Isn't that amazing? While we might know a lot about how we learn mathematics (how we acquire knowledge in this AOK), as high school students, you might have limited information about how knowledge is produced in the field. After all, it seems the things we learn in IB Maths is all stuff that has been discovered eons ago. So how does Mathematical knowledge get produced, communicated and acquired?

Here, we see a lot of commonalities with the scientific method. As you can probably observe, the scientific method permeates through a lot of AOKs even though they are quite different in terms of the outcome. You may have come across proofs and axioms in your research about Mathematics for TOK. It is important to understand the tools that mathematicians use to replicate the validity lended by the scientific method. This video is a good explainer of this.

So for Mathematics, you should think about what type of methodologise do Mathematicians use, what constitute as evidence, and how they falsify or verify existing knowledge.

Some interesting attributes that could be valuable for your discussion as well could include:

1. Mathematics is universal. Is this universal 'language' beneficial or a hindrance? Is there still differences between geographical region and cultures to either producing or communicating mathematics?

2. How can Mathematics be 'wrong' or 'uncertain'? How can we know that something is true for 'certain' as is often expected in Mathematics?

3. Can the certainty we have in Mathematics be used for malicious intents?

4. Can anyone produce mathematical knowledge? As a high school student, it seems that we acquire mathematical knowledge constantly. To what extent should we acquire this knowledge?

5. What is the purpose of complex mathematics beyond basic arithmetic?

Making comparisons between AOKs

Comparisons should begin from each stage of knowledge using the Knowledge Framework. Essentially, think about each stage of knowledge from production, to communication to acqusition. How does each AOK do these things slightly differently with slightly or radically different tools available at their disposal. From the outline of each of the AOKs above, you should already see that they have very different ways of going about each stage.