Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Candidate Name: Xin Hao Kwok
Candidate Session Number: 002329-131

3) "Every attempt to know the world rests on a set of assumptions that cannot be
tested
...

Firstly, we have to ascertain what defines knowing the world in the respective areas of
knowledge relevant to this essay
...
A knowledge issue that can be derived from the proposition could be “Are
justifications of our beliefs of the world reliant on assumptions and can these assumptions be
tested to be true?” My knowledge claim is “Justifications of our beliefs of the world are
reliant on assumptions that cannot or too tedious to be tested to be true”
...

‘Knowing the world’ in natural sciences could mean explaining phenomena that occurs in our
surroundings and understanding principles governing how they work
...
Axiom is a self-evident
universally accepted principle or rule that requires no proof 1
...

Natural science is the theoretical and practical activity encompassing the systematic
study of structure and behavior of the physical world through empirical evidence2
...
The definition of natural
sciences suggests that there is a reason behind the behavior of the physical world and this
causality can be studied
...
(n
...
Retrieved May 1, 2013, from Dictionary
...
reference
...
(n
...
Retrieved April 20, 2013, from Oxford Dictionaries:
http://oxforddictionaries
...
These events can be described by Natural Laws which are
expressible in language mathematical in nature which in itself relies on its own implicit,
explicit assumptions and mathematical axioms
...
This proposes that causality cannot be proven
...
But randomized controlled trials revealed that HRT
increased risk of CHD
...
Thus HRT and CHD were coincident “effects” of a common “cause”
rather than cause and effect, as had been supposed
...

This suggests that observed phenomenon must be independent of the observer in order for it
to be consistent
...
Mathematician John Casti advocates that
uncertainty principle cannot be tested, “the kinds of measurements we can actually make in
the real world have nowhere near the resolution that would be needed to test Heisenberg's
principle
...
A
...
D
...
(2004, May 27)
...


4

Hilgevoord, Uffink, J
...
, & Jos
...
The Uncertainty Principle
...
a
...
N
...
), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2012 ed
...
(2003)
...
In T
...
Radford (Ed
...
Atlantic Books
...
This axiom was determined by the Law
of Induction which assumes the future will be like the past if a past event is observed to
repeat itself when replicated
...
We
presume that the fifth potato cylinder placed in deionized water will also increase in mass,
there is a reason for the mass increase and the theory will persist into the indeterminate future
that can be described quantitatively with mathematics
...

However, the law of induction cannot be proven with induction - repetition of
behaviour in the present does not prove that it will repeat in the future
...

Conversely, the invariance of Natural Laws over time can be tested, albeit tedious and
time-consuming, by conducting the same experiment repeatedly assuming cause and effect
...
If the potato
cylinder increases in mass every time, it is possible to conclude that Natural Laws governing
the increase in mass of the potato cylinder is invariant over time
...

For arts, it is arguable that arts assist us in ‘knowing the world’
...
This implies we can study about the viewpoint of different societies
separated by historical eras or geography by examining their artistic accomplishments
...
This is supported by painter Paul Klee who said,
“Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see
...
It criticized the futility of war by accentuating the ideology instilled
into people, Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro patria mori - it is sweet and memorable to die for
your country
...
However, it is debatable if art rests on a set of assumptions
...
There is a lack of criteria for
something with endless possibilities
...
Therefore, there is no universal assumption in what dictates art and what is beautiful
...

Assuming art indeed reflected the outlook of society; it may assume that a certain type
of societal outlook is being reflected
...
Hence, the societal outlook the artist was intending to
present could turn out vastly different
...
Art may not
actually represent society but rather specific individuals who make up society
...
Books and dairies could also be

6

Poynor, R
...
Where Is Art Now? Retrieved May 5, 2013, from The Design Observer Group:
http://observatory
...
com/entry
...
(1998)
...
Retrieved May 15, 2013, from Dulce et Decorum Est:
http://www
...
co
...
html

Page 4 of 7

Candidate Name: Xin Hao Kwok
Candidate Session Number: 002329-131

reviewed
...

The change from two-dimensional to perspective-based art in visual arts is an
example of art being dependent on assumptions
...
This involves distant objects appearing smaller due to declining visual
angles – the angle subtended at the eye by a triangle with the object at its base
...
8 These concepts stem from Euclidean geometry and in their
applications are assumed to be true
...
Hence, linear perspective cannot be valid for nature unless these
indeterminate assumptions are factored into these attempts at knowing the world
...

A fundamental assumption behind these areas of knowing is the reliability of mathematics in
describing the world
...
Kurt
Gödel, a logician showed this in his incompleteness theorem
...
Any proof that axioms do not contradict each other — that they are
consistent — must therefore appeal to stronger principles than the axioms themselves
...

8

Burton, H
...
The optics of Euclid
...


9

Dawson, J
...
(2006, June 1)
...
Retrieved May 1, 2013, from Plus Magazine:
http://plus
...
org/content/goumldel-and-limits-logic

Page 5 of 7

Candidate Name: Xin Hao Kwok
Candidate Session Number: 002329-131

The reliability of our sense perception can also be challenged
...
Thus, for simplicity this
assumption is taken to be true
...
10
Thus, without assumptions made in the ways and areas of knowing, we would obtain
only an abstract understanding of the world
...

Since knowledge derived from assumptions is imperfect, an implication could be how
conclusions we derive are dependent on application of Occam’s razor, a principle of
parsimony, economy or succinctness
...
11
Word Count: 1598 words

10

11

Bronowski, J
...
The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination
...

Gibbs, P
...
Retrieved May 15, 2013, from What is Occam's Razor?:
http://math
...
edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam
...
(n
...
Retrieved May 1, 2013, from Dictionary
...
reference
...
(2003)
...
In T
...

Radford (Ed
...
Atlantic Books
...
(1978)
...
Princeton: Yale University Press
...
(1945)
...
Journal of the Optical Society of America(35), 357-372
...
W
...
Gödel and the limits of logic
...
maths
...
(1997)
...
ucr
...
html
Hilgevoord, Uffink, J
...
, & Jos
...
The Uncertainty Principle
...
a
...

N
...
), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2012 ed
...
A
...
D
...
(2004, May 27)
...

Poynor, R
...
Where Is Art Now? Retrieved May 5, 2013, from The Design Observer
Group: http://observatory
...
com/entry
...
(1998)
...
Retrieved May 15, 2013, from Dulce et Decorum Est:
http://www
...
co
...
html
Science
...
d
...
com/definition/english/science

Page 7 of 7



---