Summary International Baccalaureate (Theory of Knowledge essay)
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Course
TOK
Institution
This document contains an example of a high-scoring Theory Of Knowledge essay (A).
The topic chosen was: “Labels are a necessity in the organization of knowledge, but they also constrain our understanding.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Pt 3: “Labels are a necessity in the organization of knowledge, but they also constrain our
understanding.” Discuss this statement with reference to two areas of knowledge.
Word count: 1527
, The Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, famously stated, “Once you label me you
negate me.”1 There is a clear tension over the implications of labels; they both organise and limit
knowledge. In the context of this title, the term ‘labels’ refers to tags used to classify concepts
into different categories and the word ‘necessity’ refers to the state of being in total need of
something. In addition, the ‘organization of knowledge’ refers to the compartmentalisation of
information into subsidiary disciplines so that it can be easily assimilated by the learner.
However, this compartmentalisation of knowledge may ‘constrain’ our ability to comprehend
and reason through both emotion and intellect. ‘Constrain’ is defined as the limiting of our
‘understanding’ through categorisation. In order to discuss this title, this essay will explore: to
what extent does the necessity of labelling knowledge constrain our understanding. As a science
and arts student, this prescribed title resonates with me; it suggests the relationship between a
rational construction of knowledge and the complex, subjective connotation of words. This will
be explored through the lens of different disciplines in both the natural sciences and the arts,
through both a rational and linguistic lens, respectively.
Primarily, the categorisation of knowledge through labels is conducive to the study and
understanding of the Natural Sciences. The Natural Sciences employs classification tools, which
are adopted to understand the physical world. An important discipline is Biology of which an
important classification tool is Taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science in which living organisms
are classified, founded by Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist established a system known as
Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming species.2
Today, taxonomy involves a system of hierarchical classification to help scientists to understand
1
Mehta, A. (2018, November). “Once you label me, you negate me”-using words that heal, not words that hurt! PubMed Central
(PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6306334/
2
Carl Linnaeus. (2020, 9). New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/people/carl-linnaeus/
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