ToK Prescribed Essay Titles (November) 2019

1. Responsibility for accuracy between users and the producers of knowledge
2. Individuals and the challenges for knowledge production.
3. Changing of shared knowledge and present confidence in it.
4. The strategy of observing and writing observations.
5. Trade-off between scepticism and success in production of knowledge.
6. Finding truths or significant truths in the pursuit of knowledge.

The full titles are here.

All the very best!

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ToK Prescribed Essay Titles (May) 2019

The TOK Essay titles for May 2019 appear to have been published here. Here they are:

1. “The quality of knowledge is best measured by how many people accept it.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

2. “The production of knowledge is always a collaborative task and never solely a product of the individual.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

3. Do good explanations have to be true?

4. “Disinterestedness is essential in the pursuit of knowledge.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

5. “The production of knowledge requires accepting conclusions that go beyond the evidence for them.” Discuss this claim.

6. “One way to assure the health of a discipline is to nurture contrasting perspectives.” Discuss this claim.

Good luck!

ToK Prescribed Essay Titles (November) 2018

It looks like the Titles for November 2018 are out - the source needs verifying - but here they are:

1. “Existing classification systems steer the acquisition of new knowledge.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.
2. “Technology provides ever-expanding access to shared knowledge. Therefore, the need to assimilate such knowledge personally is relentlessly diminishing.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
3. Are disputes over knowledge claims within a discipline always resolvable? Answer this question by comparing and contrasting disciplines taken from two areas of knowledge.
4. “Those who have knowledge don’t predict. Those who predict don’t have knowledge” (Lao Tzu). Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
5. “Too much relevant knowledge in a field might be a hindrance to the production of knowledge in that field.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.
6. “The importance of establishing incontrovertible facts is overestimated. Most knowledge deals in ambiguity.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Good luck!

ToK Prescribed Essay Titles May 2018

Here are the May 2018 TOK Essay prompts courtesy of Larry Ferlazzo and IB TOK Essay Tutor:

1. “The fields of study of academic disciplines can overlap, but adopting interdisciplinary approaches to the production of knowledge leads only to confusion.” Discuss this claim.

2. “We know with confidence only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases” (adapted from JW von Goethe). Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

3. “Without the assumption of the existence of uniformities there can be no knowledge.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

4. “Suspension of disbelief” is an essential feature of theatre. Is it essential in other areas of knowledge? Develop your answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

5. “The quality of knowledge produced by an academic discipline is directly proportional to the duration of historical development of that discipline.” Explore this claim with reference to two disciplines.

6. “Robust knowledge requires both consensus and disagreement.” Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Some of them are not easy to decode, so all the best with them!

TOK Prescribed Essay TItles (November 2017)

Here are the TOK titles for the November 2017 exam session courtesy of tok.net:

1. Is the value of knowledge related to how easy it is to access? Develop your answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

2. “Every theory destabilizes as much as it solidifies our view of the world” (Nathan Jurgenson). Discuss.

3. “Over time, knowledge has become more accurate.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

4. Areas of knowledge have methods for testing and supporting knowledge claims. How can we know that these methods themselves are reliable? Develop your answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

5. “The simplest explanation is the best explanation.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

6. “The production of knowledge seems to require creativity at every stage of the process.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

All the best with your work on these!

ToK Prescribed Essay TItle (May2017)

Here are the titles for May 2017 courtesy of theoryofknowledgestudent.net:

1. “It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?

2. “Facts are needed to establish theories but theories are needed to make sense of facts.”
Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge
.
3. Should key events in the historical development of areas of knowledge always be
judged by the standards of their time?

4. “In the production of knowledge, traditions of areas of knowledge offer correctives
for ways of knowing.”  To what extent do you agree with this statement?

5. Given access to the same facts, how is it possible that there can be disagreement
between experts in a discipline?  Develop your answer with reference to two areas of knowledge.

6. “Humans are pattern  seeking animals and we are adept at finding patterns
whether they exist or not” (adapted from Michael Shermer).  Discuss knowledge
questions raised by this idea in two areas of knowledge.

Good luck to you all!

ToK Prescribed Essay Titles (November 2016)

Here are the TOK Essay Titles for November 2016 courtesy of ibtokessaytutor.com (awaiting further verification from other sources...)

1. "The acquisition of knowledge is more a matter of recognition than of judgement." Evaluate this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

2. "Is the availability of more data always helpful in the production of knowledge?" Explore this question with reference to two areas of knowledge.

3. "Conflicting knowledge claims always involve a difference in perspective." Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

4. "Error is as valuable as accuracy in the production of knowledge." To what extent is this the case in two areas of knowledge?

5. "Metaphor makes no contribution to knowledge but is essential for understanding." Evaluate this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.

6. " Ways of knowing operate differently in personal and shared knowledge." Assess this claim.

Good luck to all of you submitting n September 2016!