I Think Therefore IB

Questions to choose from for your upcoming essay (due March 23, 2009):
Number of words: 1200-1600.

1) We are more likely to be mistaken in our generalizations than in our particular observations.” Do you agree? (May 2003)

2) “What distinguishes Areas of Knowledge from one another is not how ideas are generated, but how they are evaluated.” Do you agree? (May 2003)

3) Can we know something that has not yet been proven true? (May 2004)

4) “This rubber tree won’t yield latex—the biologist blames the sapling, the geologist blames the soil, the contractor blames the unskilled labourer and the owner says it is fighting back at being controlled.” (Amitav Ghosh) If different Ways of Knowing or Areas of Knowledge yield contradictory statements about the world, on what basis do we choose among them? (May 2004)

5) “All of the other Ways of Knowing are controlled by language.” What does this statement mean and do you think it is a fair representation of the relationship between perception, emotion, reason and language? (May 2005)

6) What are the differences between “I am certain” and “it is certain”, and is passionate conviction ever sufficient for justifying knowledge? (May 2005)