Fall

May

Evaluate the strengths and

weaknesses of reason as a way
of knowing

Theory of Knowledge essay

08
09

We rely on all the four ways of knowing; sense of perception, language,

emotion and reason. However, they all have weaknesses. We often use ways
of knowing in conjunction with each other. Some areas of knowledge might
not use sense of perception as such but we sometimes think that Maths for
example uses mainly logic or reason. Is this true?
Reason is one of the strongest ways of knowing. One of the strengths
of reason as a source of knowledge is that it seems to give us certainty. We
can refer to logic as the study of the correct reasoning. It involves argument,
inference truth, falsity, validity and invalidity. Logic facilitates us to understand
more about what our beliefs mean, and shows how clearly we can express
them. Throughout the period logicians have discovered two different types of
reasoning; inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is the use
of scientific principles to draw the most probable conclusion from evidence.
Inductive reasoning usually derives from observations and
generalisations are made about the unobserved. However, because it is
based on observations, it can be biased to the person therefore it might not be
concrete knowledge and it might be subjective.
Deductive reasoning is the use of necessary inference to draw sure
conclusions from premises. Since its premises determine the validity of the
form, therefore the argument is dependent upon the validity of the form of the
argument and the truth of the premise. Thus the only weakness of deductive
reasoning is the truth-value of its premises.
Mathematics, which is one of the major areas of knowledge, is a
subject that seems to charm and alarm people in equal measure.
Mathematics in fact seems to give us more certainty than other areas of
knowledge. And it said to be purely based on reasoning. Without reasoning,
mathematics will not work. Is this true?
When you reason formally, you begin with axioms. Mathematics is based on
axioms. Axioms are based on assumption however the axioms of
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mathematics were considered to be self-evident truths, which offer a firm

foundation for mathematics knowledge. There are four requirements for a set
of axioms; they should be consistent, independent, simple and fruitful.
Solving mathematical equations require logical thinking. Thus reason is an
important aspect in math. Without reason, one will not be able to proof and
explain the result to a particular mathematical equation however, when put
into real life situation, reasoning will need to be evaluated due to other
circumstances for example

A mathematician will agree that the result of the equation above will always be
two. Logically, when based on the axioms of math, 1+1 will never be equal to
4 or 5, thus making reason as a strong justification for math problems.
However, one can argue that in real life situations, the two apples will not
always be there. Imagine 100 years later, throughout time, the apples will rot
away and therefore 1 + 1 will not always equal to two.
When one uses reason as a justification for the present, reasoning may be
seen as strength. However, when we attempt to evaluate the future and the
aftermath of a situation, reasoning might not be one of the strongest ways of
knowing, as shown from the example above. Therefore we could say that
reasoning can be said as a misleading aspect when one ignores other
circumstances, such as time.
Although many say that math is based on reasoning, this is untrue, because
math also utilizes axioms, therefore it is not strictly reasoning, but also on an
assumption.
Reasoning can also be applied to ethics. The ethical dilemma of
abortion makes complete sense; when you dont want something, you get rid
of it. If you are against abortion; this means that you feel uncomfortable in
taking other peoples lives. The reason behind this, might link to individuals
emotions. The emotions that speak to some, the guilt that one would feel

when experiencing an abortion would prove it is unethical. Through the belief

of against abortion, we assume that murder is wrong with no exceptions.
However, to those who believe that abortion is ethical, one can reason that
since the foetus is not developed yet, no soul will be abolished. Therefore
abortion is ethical because women have the right to decide their own choices
of maternity.
For example, if we take the case of rape, and assume that the woman
is impregnated. But the mother of the child is against abortion, and decided to
give birth to this child. However, if we consider the fact that the mother of the
child is incapable physically or economically to have a child, we can argue
that reasoning may be a disadvantage; because it will not benefit both the
mother and the child. However, the fact that the mother is unwilling to choose
abortion might be caused by her emotion.
There was a woman that I know and had this situation. She believes in
premarital sex yet often practices it without safety. In this context, reasoning
can be seen as a weakness because she reasons that due to the existence of
abortion, it was acceptable for her to practice unsafe sex. At the end she was
impregnated twice and chose to abort for both. Abortion was used weakly as a
choice and therefore suggests that reasoning can lead to flawed decisions.
Torture can also be applied to reasoning. For example, in the case of
terrorism, is it ethical to torture one person in order to get information of the
killing of the bombing of 1000 people? Some people might say it is ethical.
Therefore these people will agree that there isnt any problem in hurting one
human being, and by torturing this person that we assume to be the terrorist,
society can benefit it as this person would give the truth and will save 1000
people.
However, there is a dilemma of the value of a soul. Although one is a
terrorist, but who decides that ones life is definitely less valuable than 1000
souls? When dealing with humans lives, one cannot play God by making
assumptions and decisions on which soul is to save, torture or let go.
Moreover, one of the purposes of torture was to reveal the truth by putting the
targeted person in pain. However, that will not always be the case. We do not
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know that the terrorist is saying the truth or whether he has immense belief in
what he does rather than his life, therefore leading to give false
confessions1. From this, we can clearly see that if we apply reason in torture,
reason might not always works and it does not give us certainty.
Art is exceedingly subjective and personal, even though emotions tend
to play a bigger role in art as they communicate ones reaction to his
perceptions and this will create his own thoughts regarding this artwork within
him. However, some might also say that reasoning can be used in the
knowledge of art due to the abstractness of art, one can always see the
relation of art. Another reason that reasoning can be applied to the knowledge
of art is because it can be seen through the illusions in art.

For example, in the picture of the young/old lady above, one

instantaneously see a young lady, however, through reasoning one is able to
see the young ladys ear as old ladys eyes and the young ladys face as old
ladys nose. Thus one is able to see the old lady.
However, the counter argument to this knowledge is that in comparison to
emotion, reason may not be the strongest ways of knowing, in determining the
knowledge of art.
I heard this song called never felt this way by Bryan McKnight. And I was
1

Andrew Sullivan http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/10/imaginationland.html

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certain that it was a heartbreaking song. And since art is viewed from our
personal perspective, and that art is subjective, therefore my beliefs became
my knowledge. When I listened to this song again while reading the lyrics to
find the meaning of this song, I realized that my belief is wrong, it was instead
a love song; where the artist expressed how much this relationship means to
him. This is evident to the lines such as: ...darlin', Never felt so good. Never
felt this way about lovin', it feels so good. However, my emotions implied to
me that it was a depressing song. I believed that the beat and the melody of
this song had provoked me and came to such conclusion. Although my
reasoning told me that this song was not sad, my emotions designated that it
was so, and I was taken over by my emotions.
Therefore, we can say that in determining the knowledge of art, reason
is not the strongest way of knowing to use although reason gives some
certainty but only within the reach of your own thoughts. And in this case,
emotion is more reliable instead.
In conclusion, although in one hand reasoning had its disadvantages,
as reason can be taken over by other ways of knowing; such as emotion, and
from the examples above, emotion can take over reason because usually in a
situation theres always a logical and emotional solution and usually the
emotion wins, this is evident through my example on abortion. However,
reason is one of the most certain because when we apply reason in a
situation, we will be able to see a bigger picture of this situation, and this is
evident through my examples from the illusion picture on art.

Bibliography:

Websites:

http://samaralansari.blogspot.com/2006/11/samars-ib-tok-

essay_15.html date accessed 11th November 2008

http://www.h4x3d.com/feat/themes/red-apple.jpg date accessed 11th

November 2008
http://www.jokes123.com/picturejokes/picjokes6/bigimages/Lady_illusio

n.jpg date accessed 11th November 2008

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/brianmcknight/neverfeltthisway.html date

accessed 15th November 2008

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/10/imaginatio
nland.html date accessed 22nd December 2008

Books:

Theory of knowledge for the IB Diploma by Richard van de Lagemaat,

first published in 2005 and reprinted in 2006; Cambridge

Theory of knowledge by Nicholas Alchin, published in 2002, by John
Murray; London

Word Count: 1587