Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

Welcome to the TOK!

Theory of knowledge (TOK) is a core subject in the IB program that develops a student’s critical thinking skills by examining the ways knowledge is constructed.

TOK is perhaps most comparable to Epistemology within the field of Philosophy, however, unlike Epistemology TOK is focused on specific Areas of Knowledge (AOK) and Ways of Knowing (WOK).
The AOK are Ethics, History, Mathematics, Natural Science, Human Science, the Arts, Religious Knowledge, and Indigenous Knowledge systems. Each school chooses six of those eight to focus on.
Ways of Knowing are Reason, Emotion, Language, Perception, Imagination, Faith, Memory, and Intuition. The WOK are all brought into the discussion of the various AOK.

Types of inquiry common for TOK would be to focus on how the language in emotionally biased historical documents can manipulate the historical narrative people call true, and how inductive reasoning in Natural Science causes problems with claiming absolute certainty in the field of Science.