TOK essay 2015

The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and

purpose in our personal lives
The title to be discussed is a claim about a truth statement in the realm of abstract thought. The title
is confusing and tricky in several aspects which in my opinion stems in part from the use of an
ambiguous wording.
After giving the proper consideration to this difficulty, my judgment is that only in a very narrow
sense knowledge does in fact produce meaning and purpose in our personal life. This may only be
the knowledge of wise men or the holy scripture that aid in the discovering one's moral codes. In
my opinion the statement that knowledge rather serves our goals is a much more meaningful
proposition with real world relevance that deserves contemplation. In this sense, the statement is
perfectly sensible and reasonable. I will show that the statement 'knowledge serves our goals' is
even on logical grounds alone a true and valid proposition that cannot be refuted.
What is so confusing is the authors' use of the phrases 'whole point' and 'extent of agreement' in
conjunction with an abstract statement. Saying 'the whole point knowledge' is either negligent use
of a colloquial expression instead of more precisely saying 'the point' or 'purpose of knowledge' or
maybe it is even the authors' intention to imply that there are several meanings to the term
knowledge. In my thinking and understanding of language theoretical, abstract terms such as
knowledge, meaning, purpose, love, success etc. must have an absolute meaning in a person's mind
and are consciously or unconsciously - subject to subjective valuations, morals and chosen ends
in life. So knowledge, for instance, can be described as an instrument that helps one to achieve
his/her ends in life. Since different people have different ends the same information may convey a
different content of knowledge. For instance the information on the precise condition of snow and
ice may be essential for survival of the Inuit, it is practically useless information for the European
and as such hardly qualifies as knowledge.
In the same vein, i.e. connoting different meanings to an abstract term is the author's suggestive
question to what the extent the reader agrees. Given the definition of abstract terms as absolutes one
either has to agree or disagree with a proposition of this kind.
Ascribing different meanings to these abstract terms only make sense if we use them as concrete
terms. Such as the information on snow and ice that represents knowledge to the Inuit and just
information to the European. Here, knowledge is referred to as specific body of knowledge or
expert knowledge in 'an area of knowledge', such as natural science, medicine, technology or
economics. It is trivial insight that a specific body of knowledge impacts one's personal life such as
it helps to make one's life easier, more pleasant and less hazardous and thus allows one to achieve

TOK essay 2015

faster and more one's goals in life. For instance, the availability of antibiotics allows one to faster
recuperate or even just survive an infectious disease. But this doesn't mean that this knowledge or
the benefits thereof directly influence what one considers meaningful or purposeful in life. I would
not contend and there is no rational argument in favor that the amount of expert knowledge or its
increase in any field has an impact on peoples' vocation to urge into that field other than potential
earnings. Certainly, emergence of new technologies, i.e. computer industry has opened a new fields
of activity for people who in former times would have build and repaired radios etc.. But the
meaning and purpose, in my opinion, have remained the same, namely simply to have one's
vocation in a technological field.
Human experience from past and contemporary history may qualify as knowledge to the effect that
it has an impact on the meaning and end one' s personal life. For instance the German population
has experienced three major economics crisis in the past century the hyperinflation in the
Weimarer republic, the post-WWII currency reform in 1948 and worldwide stagflation
(portmanteau word of stagnation and inflation) in the 1970s. This experience has in a way
conditioned many Germans even today to be more prudent and judicious in economic matters, such
as avoiding excessive debt and rather displaying saving and industrious habits as compared for
instance of inhabitants of other European countries.
Another lucid example of past experience shaping one's personal life are in my opinion the British
WWI poems, the fame and popularity of which is owed to their unique authenticity in exposing
absurdity of man in joining in a destructive war of nation states.
After giving examples of how expert knowledge and experience may come to the benefit one' s
personal life, let me I now define my understanding of the abstract terms from the title.
Knowledge is a condition of our mind that allows us to judge a fact of nature or thought as true. The
purpose of knowledge is to help us to improve in pursuing and achieving our goals in life. It serves
a purpose as a mean but does not produce it. In order to do so knowledge has to be consistent with
reality and universally valid. Since the fulfillment of our chosen ends is in dealing with the external
world, knowledge always manifests in human action, i.e. purposeful behaviour. Further, because
human action takes places in time knowledge reduces uncertainty about the future.
Broadly speaking, two kinds of knowledge, empirical and logical truth can be distinguished. In the
realm of empirical knowledge it is gathered through testing, studying and making experience in the
external world. Here, knowledge can be considered as true or confirmed information, beliefs or
ideas. Where beliefs and ideas come from, from our mind or universe, we cannot know, but
knowledge is a product of reason. Empirical knowledge ideally is absolutely true but it doesn't
necessarily be so to be successful in practical application. Take for instance the law of gravity;

TOK essay 2015

although known and successfully applied for hundreds of years, there are subtle influence such as
from the earths slight deviation from a perfect sphere or the effect of the earths rotational force
that may alter gravitational forces at in different areas of the world. These effects may have been
unknown at the beginning and therefore may have largely remained unconsidered in the past, but
not necessarily to detriment of every endeavor where basic knowledge of gravitational force was
applied.
Knowledge can also be gained through logic alone. Logic is a way of thinking that allows no
contradiction or is self-evident. Logic is the basis of all empirical knowledge. The philosopher
Immanuel Kant referred to it as synthetic a priori judgements, which means knowledge based on
pure reason where the predicate and subject in a proposition have distinct meanings, yet in the
proposition convey a new meaning or express a truth about the structure of reality. The most
prominent and undisputed example of such a proposition is from mathematics; 2+2=4 is obviously a
true proposition by reason alone, i.e. doesnt require empirical testing. In contrast to empirical
knowledge logical knowledge is absolute, i.e. it is either right or wrong and allows no leeway to
lead to successful acting in contrast to empirical knowledge. (see above example from natural
science). Logic knowledge is a constant in the human mind while empirical knowledge is indefinite.
An anlaogy would be that one doesn't know what one wilI say during his future life, but for sure one
will make statements that use predicates and subjects.
Examples of verbal propositions that are logically true and cannot be denied without contradicting
oneself are: absolute truth exists or man exists in time and purpose or no object can be a two places
at the same time or humans acts using means. All these statements have relevance in the external
word or tell something about it and are therefore not mere linguistic conventions. In addition our
intuition, i.e. our sense that something is true without applying conscious logical reasoning tells us
that these statements are true.
After clearing the veil of opacity brought about by the confusion from the title's wording, let me
finally prove that what I consider to be a meaningful core of the title's statement, namely that the
point of knowledge is to serve and not produce - a purpose in life is a valid, undeniable
proposition. The statement is precisely claiming what is only implicit of any proposition, namely to
make a truth claim and thereby pursuing a goal, namely to make a statement. For instance the
statement ' I like German beer' is a truth claim that cannot be denied unless I am lying and at the
same time I am pursuing the goal by making this statement. Although the statement 'I like German
beer' is true, it is a subjective valuation with not other real world relevance other than I, personally,
like beer; the statement 'knowledge serves a purpose in life' has relevance in the external world
because it tells you that you don't have to go about empirical testing to prove or disapprove this

TOK essay 2015

proposition.
Let me finally and briefly address what is meant by meaning and purpose in personal life. While it
is often claimed that there is or should be some higher purpose or destiny to the meaning and
purpose of life, bereft from all connotations and expressed to the plainest of language purpose
simply means the aim, end or goal while meaning expresses an idea of an end. Also, meaning and
purpose of life is often referred to in a long-term perspective where the personal achievements are
the result from consecutive actions one building upon the other. However there are of course shortterm, daily purposes or purposes in an instant that fit into the larger picture of purposes. For
example, writing this IB essay fits the purpose of getting a good IB grade, that opens the doors to
obtain a better education, to get a better professional training, and to have a better personal life. Or
even simpler, my forehead is itchy right know, so to scratch it serves to get rid of this discomfort to
better arrange my thoughts while writing this essay.
Both terms, meaning and purpose really bear similar meaning in the given context. In the German
language both terms 'Sinn und Zweck' are linked in a common idiomatic expression. One's meaning
and purpose of personal life cannot be observed empirically but are inferred by one's intimate
wishes and values, i.e. one's moral codes. The latter can only be revealed through introspection, i.e
applying reason to discover what one considers a right conduct in life. At this point, I would agree
that knowledge actually produces purposes in life only to the extent that revelations from some wise
thinkers or the holy scripture may aid in discovering our moral codes.
The author refers to the meaning of knowledge specifically for the personal life. It doesnt
necessarily imply that the conclusion drawn from the discussion do not apply to let us say the
professional life, however, it also doesnt exclude to this possibility. In the sphere of abstract
thought where the purpose is to make an absolute, universal claim it doesnt make sense to restrict
oneself to some arbitrary, conventional classification from the real world. The latter usually serves a
specific purpose and therefore introduces a bias that limits the perspective of the point at issue. For
instance the distinction between personal and professional life is common for todays working
environment where the majority of workers are employed and have fixed, regulated working time.
In an environment of a self-employed person who runs a family business, for example, personal and
professional life blend into each other making a distinction unreasonable.