Theory of Knowledge - Unit 1 - Class 1

Personal Identity
 What we will cover in today’s lesson

Class overview:

Today we will focus on who we are as knowers and will explore a basic framework for how to think about
individuals in the context of knowledge and knowledge communities. We will explore the basic types of
knowledge available to us as human beings. Note that the terms we explore are broad and extremely basic; we
will add more detail and colour to them as we move through the course.

Learning Goals:

By the end of this lesson, you should be comfortable with the following terminology: personal identity,
knower, personal knowledge, experiential knowledge, innate knowledge, first-hand and second-
hand knowledge, ignorance, certainty

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 What we will cover in today’s lesson

Overview:
1. Personal identity and the knower
2. Personal knowledge
a. Experiential knowledge
i. First-hand and second-hand knowledge
b. Innate knowledge
3. Personal Ignorance and certainty
4. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

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 Today’s Knowledge Questions
First Recall….

More specifically, in TOK we will look at four types of

questions through what IB calls a knowledge framework:

a) The scope - possibilities and limits - of academic

subjects
b) The perspectives offered in academic subjects
c) The method and tools employed by thinkers in experts
in different subjects
d) The responsibilities and ethical constraints placed
upon knowers

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 Today’s Knowledge Questions

Knowledge questions based on the knowledge framework for the core theme: Knowledge and
the Knower:
Scope: What kinds of things can we know, and what kinds of things are impossible to know ?

Perspective:
What shapes my perspective as a knower?
How much of our knowledge depends on our interactions with other knowers?
Is the truth what the majority of people accept?

Methods and Tools:

How do we acquire knowledge?
What constitutes a “good reason” for us to accept a claim?

Ethics: As knowers, do we have a moral duty to examine our own assumptions and biases?
 1
Personal Identity

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 But - what is ‘the self’? Personal Identity: a VERY Brief history

In Philosophy, historically speaking, there are two competing views that are explored and debated:
Rationalism and Empiricism.

When it comes to personal identity, Rationalists, believe that the mind and particularly rationality are the
essence of what makes us knowers. They believe that personal identity requires that underneath all of our
thoughts and experiences is a person metaphysically distinct from the thoughts and experiences that is
having the thoughts and experiences.

On the other hand, the Empiricists believe that who we are - as thinkers and experiencers of reality, is simply
a sum of those experiences and thoughts. There is no metaphysically ‘person’ underneath any of these
things; a human being is a collection of impressions, thoughts, beliefs, etc.

Metaphysically - relating to reality

and substance, . e.g., the soul,
physical reality, the mind, the
body, etc.
 Personal Identity: a VERY Brief history

“I think therefore I am... I...concluded that I was a substance whose whole

essence or nature consists only in thinking, and which, that it may exist, has
need of no place, nor is dependent on any material thing; so that ‘I’, that is
to say, the mind by which I am what I am, is wholly distinct from the body,
and is even more easily known than the latter …” - Rene Descartes

“For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always
stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or
shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time
without a perception, and never can observe any thing but the perception.
When my perceptions are remov'd for any time, as by sound sleep; so long
am I insensible of myself, and may truly be said not to exist.” - David Hume
 Hume (felings) vs Decartes (logic)

Inside Out movie (emotions) vs Inception movie (what is real?)

Personal Identity: a VERY Brief history

Of course, how you think about personal identity is up to you. However, IBDP and TOK take a constructivist
approach to most things (that knowledge, terms, views of reality, etc. are constructed by us as, not already
assembled). And so, to an extent, IBDP sides with Hume on this one.

Our personal identities are best thought of as a bundle of experiences, thoughts, desires, beliefs, etc.

We can think of ourselves as the sum of two qualities - those that we choose and those that we do not
choose (though we may not choose to identify with the characteristics we are born with e.g., nationality).

French Philosophers and writers

deemed existentialists shared this
belief about the self with Hume

The Buddhist view of the

self, often called the ‘no-
self’ shares similarities
with Hume’s view
Questions “
 “
▸ What are the various physical, emotional, and personal
characteristics that, in your opinion, define you personally (in terms
of personal identity)? Which of these characteristics are your choice
and which of them are not?
▸
“
To what extent are you the same person you were when you were
younger? When you were in grade 8 or 9? How have you changed
and how have you remained the same?
The Take Away about personal identity

Our personal identities are best thought of as a bundle of experiences, thoughts, desires,
beliefs, etc.

We can think of ourselves as the sum of two qualities - those that we choose and those that we
do not choose (though we may not choose to identify with the characteristics we are born with
e.g., nationality).

This allows us to talk about individuals as…

Knowers
Choosers
Fallible (can make mistakes)
Unique

All of these will impact our decisions and choices we make. For instance, let’s look at:
Page 25 in your textbook
 2.
Personal Knowledge

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 Personal Knowledge

Personal Knowledge is knowledge we personally have/possess as knowers (as individuals).

It is what is inside of your brain/mind right now. It is what you know.

For example, I know that…

2+2=4
I’m in Singapore
I like Cheese
Durian is great
 “
What is personal knowledge? What personal knowledge do you possess?
Give examples.

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Experiential Knowledge and Innate Knowledge
In the history philosophy another debate arises between
Empiricists and Rationalists - where does Knowledge come
from? Is knowledge based on experience or is it innate?

Empiricists often argue that knowledge is the result of our

experience. They believe that most if not all knowledge is
‘experiential’. According to empiricists (like Hume, Locke,
Aristotle, etc.) knowledge comes from experience - it is the
result of repeated observances, deductions, observation of
phenomenon. After having so many experiences, we are able to
make knowledge claims and ‘learn’ things. They call this
knowledge.

Rationalists disagree. Instead, they often argue that something

can only be knowledge if it is certain - that knowledge is
deduced by some sort of rationalistic, logical process. They
also tend to argue that some knowledge is innate - that we
already possess it at birth. This is sometimes called ‘a priori’
knowledge, which is just latin for ‘before experience’.
 “
“Almost all of our knowledge is experiential”. To what extent do you
agree or disagree? How much of our knowledge is experiential, and how
much of it is innate? Give examples of both of these types of knowledge
that you, arguably, possess.
Experiential Knowledge First-hand and Second-hand
knowledge
Leaving the debate between Rationalism and Empiricism behind, we
ought to see that a lot of what we know comes to us through experience
(and that likewise, some knowledge seems to arrive independent of
experience, like logic, math, and certain physical ‘skills’ like breathing
and seeing).

It’s helpful then, to divide up what we learn from experience into two
groupings:

1) First-hand knowledge: what we learn from direct, personal

experiences.
2) Second-hand knowledge: what we learn from other people or
sources

The first seems mostly acquired through sense perception, reason,

imagination, and intuition.
The second seems mostly acquired through language and sense
perception.
First-hand or second-hand know quiz!

1. Your memory of what you look like in the mirror

2. How to make Kimchi Jjigae
3. That there are 9 planets in the solar system (or 8, as some say)
5. That the earth is spherical (not flat)
6. What snow looks like
7. That wearing a mask prevents Covid-19
8. That France is famous for its wines
9. That water is H20
10. That there was no number 4 in this quiz.
 “
Give examples of first-hand and second-hand knowledge you currently
possess.
 2.
Certainty and Ignorance

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 “
What is ignorance, and how does it relate to personal knowledge? How
does it relate to the concept of certainty? Can we be certain of anything?
What is the illusion of explanatory depth?
Certainty and Ignorance

Now that we’ve established the basic types of personal knowledge

(experiential and innate knowledge) we might ask - is it possible to be
certain of our personal knowledge? Or ought we admit a degree of
ignorance with respect all of the personal knowledge we possess?

How do you know you aren’t dreaming right now and if not, how can
you be certain of anything?
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
 Questions:

1. Describe how the people in the cave are situated in Plato's parable. Why can't they
move their legs or necks to take a look around? What is the only thing they are
capable of seeing? What is their only source of light?
2. What do these prisoners trapped in the cavern believe is real?
3. How do the prisoners react when they first see sunlight?
4. What is the allegory of the cave supposed to represent? How does it relate to
personal knowledge (first and second hand), ignorance, and certainty?
5. To what extent do you think the allegory applies to IB, to TOK, and to your journey
as a student?
6. Do you think Plato is right or wrong about the nature of truth? Is modern society
like the cave?