The Nature of Language in Knowledge or Resolved I

language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides.
Rita Mae Brown

Language is so much a part of human activity that it is easily taken for granted. The issues related to language and knowledge call for conscious scrutiny in order to recognize its influence on thought and behavior.

Please watch the video clip from the HBO documentary Resolved, below and respond the questions below

1. What different functions does language perform; Which are most relevant in creating and communicating knowledge? You may use the link below to help you with this question.

http://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/form_lang.html

2. After watching the video clip on debate: To what extent does knowledge actually depend on language: on the transmission of concepts from one person or to another, and on exposure of concepts or claims to public scrutiny?

3. Are these students picking up a valuable skill?

Making a Visual Metaphor (Post 18)

Assignment
There are six areas of knowledge in the TOK curriculum. They are Math, Natural Sciences, Human Science, History, Ethics and Art.
1. Create a visual metaphor that represents the relationship between the areas of knowledge.
2. Consider where the areas of knowledge generally overlap, and where they operate independently from each other.

Below is another example

Problematic Meaning in Language (Post 17)

When you consider how language is used in practice, things start to get complicated. We often use language, in all kinds of non-literal ways. As the poet Robert Frost observed, we rarely say exactly what we mean, for "we like to talk in parables and in hints and indirections"
View the MSNBC news clip below. Identify one metaphor used by the analysis and describe its real meaning.

Meta-Free-Phor-All: Shall I Nail Thee to a Summer's Day? (Post 16)

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Meta-Free-Phor-All: Shall I Nail Thee to a Summer's Day?

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Language and Knowledge (Post 15)

Stephen Pinker specializations in visual cognition and language development in children at Harvard University. He is most famous for popularizing the idea that language is an "instinct" or biological adaptation shaped by natural selection. In this blog I would like you to provided counter claims for the following.

Steven Pinker finds "no scientific evidence that languages dramatically shape their speakers' ways of thinking".

1. What is the quote saying? (in your own words)
2. What is the position being put forward by author?
3. How would you counter the claim being made? What approaches to the topic are being assumed by the author? What approaches are being ignored by the author?

Resolved IV (Post 14)

The spread!!! The accepted debating technique in which debater begins speaking so rapidly that most people unaccustomed with high school forensics style debate couldn't possibly keep up. Richard Funches and Louis Blackwell students from Jordan High School used a controversial and personal approach that shook up the debating world. They tried to change the style of debate by speaking more slowly and drawing on personal experiences during arguments, instead of relying just on research by experts.

Resolved III (Post 13)

When investigating a topic, Plato's True, Justified Belief is a good starting point before taking a position. But it is only a starting point, not an end point. You will find that 'truth' is a problem, and 'belief' is a problem and 'justified' is a problem.
Please watch the next 9 mins of Resolved. And answer the question below.

In video clip III Sam Iola says "things are a little slow, but, it really doesn't matter as long as your on the the side of truth and have a good argument". Would Sam always be on the side of truth in his debates? Pragmatic theory advocates just that, true is whatever is workable or pragmatic. A philosopher, William James, states that "the 'true' is only the expedient in our way of thinking, just as the 'right' is only the expedient in our way of behaving."

1. Can you ever be justified in believing something, recognize that you are justified in believing it and then not believe in it?
Give an example.
2. Can someone have absolutely no beliefs? Could someone only have one belief?