The Theory of Knowledge

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“That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow.” What is knowledge? Knowledge can be defined as the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject acquired by a person through experience or education . There are seven official ways of knowing according to the Theory of Knowledge text book provided by the IB Diploma Program, these are: language, reason, perception, emotion, memory, imagination, and intuition. These areas conflict with the subjectivity they may bring since hey may be biased or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. Therefore, there is no certainty that the knowledge acquired through these areas is an absolute truth . So, it is important to ponder upon the following question: Is there such a thing as an absolute truth? This question continues to transcend throughout human history, though justified true belief is now commonly accepted as pure knowledge. So, we accept as knowledge that which we believe, and can validate and justify with evidence. However, there is still no certainty that these beliefs are absolute. Since what is true for one individual may be false for another, or stronger evidence might emerge, surpassing the prior justification, knowledge that is accepted one day can be discarded the next day. Two areas of knowledge in which knowledge has been discarded are history and the natural sciences.

History is an area of knowledge that deals with the study of the past. Historians devote their lives to reevaluating and analyzing historical events, with the purpose of either preventing these from repeating themselves, or for the purpose of using them as reference to deal with necessities from the contemporary society. However, analyzing the past can...

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...with all this questioning it is only logical that some knowledge will be discarded. To what extent is it necessary to be constantly discarding knowledge? It is necessary to be questioning the validity of knowledge in order to promote the development of society.

Works Cited

"Definition of Knowledge in English:." Knowledge: Definition of Knowledge in Oxford Dictionary (American English) (US). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .

"Holocaust History." Auschwitz. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2013.

"Night by Elie Wiesel." About.com Judaism. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2013.

"The Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine." The Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. .

"What Is Absolute Truth?" WiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov 2013.

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