International Baccalaureate Diploma

Grade awarded: 8+/10

“In gaining knowledge, each area of knowledge uses a network of ways of knowing.”

The tittle suggests that knowledge is “gained” through the movement of knowledge from a personal sphere to a shared sphere. Another way of interpreting the title may be thinking about the academic research which leads to the production of knowledge or even the process of discovering new ideas or views. The definition of “network” can be interpreted in many senses and be approached in a number of ways, in a Theory of Knowledge perspective, a network can be defined as a way of sharing a series of functional needs, which can be used and lead to both positive and negative outcomes. A network is invaluable in ways of knowing (e.g. sense perception and reason), each area of knowledge has its own relatable way of knowing, thus there may be some emphasis being placed upon some WoKs in preference to others, nevertheless, a network might create come distortion, changing the message being shared on. I will be considering the following two areas of knowledge: Ethics and Arts, taking into account the influence of some of the 8 ways of knowing: language, sense perception, reason, faith, memory, imagination, intuition and emotions.

The first area of knowledge to be discussed will be Ethics. Ethics is the study of morals, it is the moral principles governing or influencing conduct. In this area of knowledge I will reference 3 ways of knowing: sense perception, reason and faith. Sense perception (seeing, smelling, touching, hearing and tasting) is a way of knowing through first-hand knowledge – easier to believe; it is in constant use and is always needed. However, everyone interprets senses differently, it is not reliable and it might not be a true representation of the outside world (optical illusion). Thus, sense perception is subjective, in order to make good ethical judgements based on your surroundings it is required to link reason.

Reasoning enables us to challenge different concepts as well as different ideas, it allows us to find what is true or false as it uses facts to come up with reasonable and logical answers. In spite of this, there are weaknesses: reasoning rejects emotions and it is not a solution to underlying problems. It can also be effected by bias or ignorance, therefore it does not provide definite answers, proving suggestions and different ideas. This links to ethics because in order to form an ethical position, reason is used to assess the outcomes of our actions, and arrive at a fair judgement about moral behaviour. Nonetheless, reason might vary from faith to faith, different beliefs have distinct views of the world. For example: Jihadis are trained to neglect reason but instead are trained to highly esteem their faith in Jihad, which makes them believe that God will promise them paradise as a recompense for acts of martyrdom. On the other hand, in the western countries, the main religion is Christianity, which is the faith that both Hell and Heaven exist after death and in order to go to Heaven people must be good to one another, otherwise they will end up in Hell. Therefore, their reasoning with regard to faith.

Faith is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something, it makes people feel included and united in common beliefs and goals, as part of a group. It can shape people and it can be universal and individual to cultures and countries, however, its limitations outweigh its strengths; our beliefs are not always true, it mostly involves other people’s ideas and “faith is belief that rejects the need for justification” – Oxford Course Companion 2013. This links to ethics in many ways, one of them being the concept of “human flourishing” – living well and therefore having a general agreement between humans so that everyone is happy. It also acts as a valuable moral compass in order to create some sort of agreement and understanding – this is universal. Then again, we also must think of the faith in cultures that are not ethically correct, e.g. Satanism and Jihad, leading to fundamentalism and extremism.

The second area of knowledge to be discussed will be the Arts. The Arts is the expression of creative skill which contains a meaning and a message. In this area of knowledge I will reference 3 ways of knowing: emotion, sense perception and language. Emotion is a strong feeling, distinguished from reasoning or knowledge, it is an instinctive feeling, such as joy or anger. Emotion is a very strong and powerful WoK, it can interfere with how we view the world and how we interpret the Arts. For example: the poem “Tabacaria” by Álvaro de Campos, based on my emotions, is a piece of art. In my opinion, to write is to create something meaningful, to express our emotions through words. I think that poems in particular are a much expressive and truthful way of doing so. This might have been passed on to me by shared knowledge through culture, however, I identify myself with this poem because I share the feelings and the perception of the world which this poem transpires. Therefore, I know that this is art because of my individual experience, reflection, perspective and therefore the emotions that this agglomerate of things have led to. However, emotion works well side by side with sense perception, which helps create emotions based on our perception of the World.

Sense perception as referred previously, is a way of knowing through first-hand knowledge, as a result this is very helpful when coming to decide what position we stand, what emotions and feelings we have towards something or someone. When viewing an artwork, sense perception is the first WoK you are recalling upon – using your primal instinct (sight, smell, taste, touch and sound). It helps us to formulate meaning to what we are being faced with, even if it is unfamiliar, we try to make some sense of it based on our surroundings. Then, we take on this ambiguous understanding and we build on it by drawing on shared knowledge we have come across from previous experiences, coming to a final interpretation of the work of art in an individual and distinct way. However, there might be some complications with this: humans have a tendency to be bias, and so confirmation bias can be a problem – our interpretation of the artwork can be perceived only in ways that fit into our preconceived ideas, creating an avoidance towards new concepts. The Willful Ignorance is another obstruction; it is the idea that we refuse to look at new evidence, clinging to our biased perspectives – when viewing art, instead of considering different perspectives and being open to new interpretations, we jump to the viewpoint which relates the most to what we are familiar with. Even though sense perception helps us make some sense of our surroundings, it might be one of the biggest human flaws, causing us to be ignorant of the changing world around us. In order to minimise the possible setbacks this might create, language is another WoK which works best with sense perception. Language is influenced by what we see, even if it written or heard, passed on by shared knowledge or gained through personal knowledge.

Language is the method of human communication, either spoken, written or gestural, consisting of the use of words in a structure and conventional way or symbols, gestures and sounds. Being a bilingual individual and an I.B student, language is one of the WoK which I am constantly using and being confronted with. It has made me reflect on the positive and negative factors and as also made me more and more passionate about this way of communication, which is constantly changing forms and in constant evolution. Language always has a purpose, it is adaptable and usually specific to each country – means countries can retain their individuality. Arguably, translations will never capture the true meaning of a text and the fact that there is not a universal language can induce misunderstandings and give rise to difference of opinions. “By words one transmits thoughts to another; by means of art, one transmits feelings” – Leo Tolstoy. Arts can carry messages and therefore simply contain a language, but as Tolstoy says: art is the language of emotions. Instead of thinking of Art and Language as separate concepts, we should think representational and abstraction, in the end, language is the art of communication, even if abstract and different to the ones we are accustomed.

As we can see, Art can be very influential, to the point of shaping our society and communicate ideas and feelings that appeal to our senses, emotion, language, etc. In spite of this, there are ethical concerns and implications referent to the arts. Which makes me think: is it necessary for art to go against moral and ethical conventions in order to be considered “good” art? Where does the freedom of expression end? When considering art’s ethical implications some people would argue that we must look at its aesthetic value, if it has a moral and educative role, if it provokes emotions and if it widens our awareness that there are other equally valid perspectives in the world. The following theories of ethics help establish different moral principles: ‘duty ethics’ states that it is our duty and obligation to do certain things and focuses on intention of actions. On the other hand, ‘utilitarianism’ has the aim to maximise the world’s happiness and focusses on the consequences of actions. In conclusion, each areas of knowledge have their own invaluable “network”, the way in which one is interpreted determines the way in which knowledge is gained. In order to understand Ethics in Arts is necessary to use that network, either gained by shared or personal knowledge.

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