ToK Review: The BIG Picture in Minutes Dale Smith, Ph.D.

In this inaugural podcast we confront the limitations of knowledge based on common sense and develop an alternate view based on the metaphor of map-making. It then examines how we determine truth within knowledge systems, followed by an examination of the implications of the first Western knowledge system, Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site

This podcast focuses on our access to the world via the Ways of Knowing and examines 4 WoK's--sense perception, language, memory, and reason. It challenges the assumptions of the unreliability of the ways of knowing, arguing that the WoK's are usually reliable and serve as our primary lifeline to experience. When they prove unreliable, it is due to the conditions imposed by our own physiological constraints, and the argument draws upon research in psychology to examine under what conditions these WoK's are and are not reliable. In each WoK, the manner in which it influences knowledge is investigated.Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site

This final introductory podcast explores the two different types of knowledge investigated in ToK, personal knowledge and shared knowledge, as well as the relationship between the two. The use of knowledge question to investigate these types of knowledge is also explained. Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site

This overview of Ethics begins with a discussion of the scope of ethics and next examines the types of moral choices available. Next, the levels of moral choices are examined, as well as the moral systems used by each. The remainder of the podcast focuses on the two areas most relevant to ToK, normative and applied ethics. Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site

The podcast distinguishes science from psuedo-science, and then lays out the tradtional view of the scientific method. The remainder of the podcast deconstruct this view, using the work of Kemeny, Bronowski, Popper, and Kuhn to offer a more sophisticated view of the scientific method.Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site

 The podcast examines the scope of the human sciences, contrasting them to other Areas of Knowledge. It attempts to deconstruct the traditional theory of the human sciences, and lays the groundwork for a more sophisticated understanding of how the human sciences operate. This new understanding is the applied to two very different types of investigation in the human sciences, those of economics and psychology.Supplementary material relevant to this podcast may be found on the companion site