Grade awarded: 8+/10
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.
Word count:1614
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