Title 1

Theory of Knowledge Essay

Can there be knowledge that is independent of culture?
Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other
area of knowledge.

Word count: 1586

Title 1
 Can there be knowledge that is independent of culture? Discuss with reference to

mathematics and one other area of knowledge.

The concept of culture and its relationship with knowledge can be explored in different

areas of knowledge (AOKs) to analyse the diversity and abundance of distinct perspectives

about how knowledge is constructed. The claim assumes that knowledge can be independent

of culture. Culture can be defined as the community's identity. In other words, it shapes the

collective1. Culture is unique and has different roles such as developing social paradigms,

social constructions and influences people's behavior. Some authors define knowledge as

being encultured2, therefore it's dependent on prior knowledge, having social meaning -

making it impossible to understand outside of its context. Knowledge could mean a genuine

belief or a true opinion through justifications, while culture goes more to the identity of the

knowledge produced. However, the concept of truth implies knowledge and has several

meanings. What is true for a community might not be accurate for another community; it also

has an association with perspectives and shared knowledge. Shared knowledge is perceived

by the attribution of meaning; therefore, it demands the exploration of its social context and

culture. Some AOKs such as Mathematics are not subject to any culture because they carry

justifications and evidence; however, how we learn is shaped by culture and context.

Knowledge dependence of culture can be understood as how a particular culture is

responsible and plays a role in creating information. In contrast, independent knowledge can

be perceived as unchangeable knowledge, such as 10 - 5 = 5. The other area of knowledge

that will be explored is history, which can be assumed to be built with bias and is influenced

by distinct cultures. Mathematics is another area of knowledge to explore, like knowledge,

has it intriguing nature and raises deep discussion about whenever it was created or

1Usatoday.com. 2022. Math scores stink in America.

2Oecd-ilibrary.org. 2022. Mathematics performance among 15-year-olds.

1
discovered. This essay will explore the concepts related to cultures, such as truth,

justification, perspective, language and values, and analyse how the AOKs mathematics

and history can be considered independent of culture, contrasting its dependence.

Considering mathematics as a language,3 we could say that any culture or community

can communicate freely with this knowledge without depending on any culture. Analysing

mathematics and culture, we cannot ignore that mathematics has been present in society since

the early civilisations, such as the Babylonians in ancient Mesopotamia 4 1895 BC–539 BC,

this society applied empirical knowledge to track the lunar and solar cycles, measure

volumes and areas, and they estimate a value that became the pi (π ). This knowledge was

combined to calculate the distance per time Jupiter travels. We could assume that Johannes

Kepler, 1517-1630, used this previous knowledge to develop his geometry theory: Three laws

of the planetary notion to observe and predict planetary motion, which inspired Newton,

1643-1727,5 a British mathematician, that recognised Kepler's equation 3rd Law ( P2=A3 ),

and rewrote it as Newton's Version of Kepler's Third Law, applying universally. They have

nothing in common apart from their interest in studying astrology and that all of them

developed mathematics theories. Those examples demonstrate how mathematics was

developed through time, with different members of distinct communities that developed

similar thoughts about how the motion of the planets works, transmitting their knowledge

regardless of its beliefs, culture or society.

Mathematics does not depends on a specific culture, especially because this knowledge

can be considered accurated, therefore, accurated. Mathematics also does not depend directly

3Shuttleworth, M. and Shuttleworth, M., 2022. Babylonian Mathematics and Numerals - Developed in
Mesopotamia.
4 Encyclopedia Britannica. 2022. Isaac Newton | Biography, Facts, Discoveries, Laws, & Inventions.
5 Schwarz, B., 2022. The Real Cuban Missile Crisis.

2
on language, which may have helped its cultural independence. This shows a distinction

between culture and knowledge production. However, even though there is a considerable

amount of independent knowledge in Mathematics, we must consider that the way we

perceive, understand and apply mathematics varies from culture to culture. The importance of

learning mathematics changes from culture to culture. For example, in the US High School,

they split math I, II and III into three years, while most countries will teach all levels of maths

during all of the three years, allowing students to develop a deep understanding of

Mathematics6 and critical thinking. Furthermore, some countries such as China, Singapura

and Japan, have the highest score in Maths competitions worldwide. Therefore we could say

that for those cultures, mathematics has a different meaning7, in terms of its applications.

Alternately, some AOKs, such as history, needs cultural roots to create themselves. They

seek culture to be found or understood. Hardly a history event will be interpreted and

understood in the same way by a person who is not part of this community or context. For

example, concentration camps have become a place to remember. This place will always

have a different meaning for Germans than for Togolese. History is passed from time to time,

in local communities or globally. However, the culture and beliefs will shape how this

information will be spread out. The culture of who is learning will influence the process of

learning and how it will be understood. Mathematics does not need culture to be created,

while history relies on culture to be formed - however, the way the subject is taught is

influenced by culture.

6 TOK 2022: THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE WEBSITE FOR THE IBDP. 2022. TOK 2022: Free theory
of knowledge website.
7 Collective a group of people considered as one, having similar caracteristics.

3
 We could see this with the Cuban Missiles Crisis 8; this history is very controversial and

intriguing. Most history books and documentaries9 say that the Soviet Union seemed to have

sent missiles to Cuba to destabilise the US during the Cold War. In contradiction to this, other

books10 suggest that Cuba never had real missiles, and the Soviet Union had fooled both US

and Cuba to protect its interest during the Cold War. This example makes clear how culture

plays an essential role in generating knowledge and how knowledge can be dependent and

biased to a specific community, resulting in cultural patriotism. History relies on culture and

perspectives since societies will never experience the same experiences through different

cultures. Considering that culture plays an essential part in human behaviour and most

historical events are about human behaviour, it could be said that cultural factors shape

history. Without history studies, various aspects of ancient cultures would remain unknown.

Another aspect that we can consider about both Mathematic and History is the

knowledge production methods. Both of them dispose of language as a method; however,

mathematics utilises its language of symbols11 independent of anything, while history uses

language not only dependent on a specific culture but also shaped by its cultures—making

mathematics more universal and making history dependent on adaptations to fit in all

cultures. Histories also use others methods to gain knowledge, including primary sources

such as documents or recollections from the past period and time and secondary sources such

as material artefacts and previous scholarship. When understanding the relationship between

AOK and culture dependence, we can consider some implications, such as at school teachers

should consider different perspectives. At school and in daily life, the community should

8 Hendrik, P., n.d. ASSESSING THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN KNOWLEDGE SHARING. The
University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
9 Good Housekeeping. 2022. Saying That "Black Lives Matter" Doesn't Mean That Other Lives Do
Not.
10 Wilson Center. 2022. The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchev,
and the Missiles of November (documentary)
11 Walsh, B., n.d. Gcse modern world history 2nd edn students book.

4
always balance its own culture with others’ values, beliefs, and religion to live in peace,

harmony and maximise the knowledge learned or shared. At the same time, teachers and

students should balance their ideas with others views to increase their critical thinking.

Connecting back to language, we can say that different words have different connotations and

interpretations, making it easy to misunderstand history. Therefore, the way history is taught

must be mindful and careful to avoid bias and misinterpretations.

The application of understanding the relationship between knowledge and culture is that

dependent knowledge can harm other communities because it is controversial and carries

different perspectives about a particular issue such as racist, prejudice, or political views.

Those harms can happen within the same country, as we saw in the US with Black Lives

Matter12 having a strong correlation with the Civil rights movements. Different points of view

can be built in a culture by the way that education is issued, by political, social and religious

influences. Controversially even though most of the ways we lean are biased and depends on

cultural construction, there is still some areas of knowledge independent such as

mathematics, that in general does not follow any particular culture and is valid for all the

communities, for example, 1+1=2 or greater the mass, more significant the attraction.

Mathematics can be considered cultural when it comes to applications.

To conclude, knowledge could be understood as dependent on culture since the way we

learn incorporates cultural roots. However, considering others' perspectives, let’s divide the

areas of knowledge into two groups, the first one will be the AOK dependent on culture;

history. The second one will be the independent; mathematics. The 1st group contains areas

of knowledge that need culture to create its roots and bases, making them misunderstood

without presenting the context and culture in which they are based. The 2nd group
12Mathnasium.com. 2022. Why Mathematics Is a Language | Mathnasium

5
comprehend free and does not depend on any culture; mathematics. Mathematics could be

considered independent of culture, in the way it is the same all over the world, however, its

implications depend on cultural roots. Alternatively, History is an area of knowledge that has

its cultural influences on how its contents are made and how it's applied. The way society will

accept or refuse that new knowledge is a pure matter of culture and how they were introduced

to do so. Pondering the view that everything is culture and the fact that several cultures got

interested by the same (Such as the space and planetary motion: Mesopotamia, Galileo…).

Therefore, there is no knowledge independent of culture - it also could be said that humanity

shares the same curiosities and seeks to understand the surroundings, leaving us to reflections

such as; if knowledge is dependent on culture and culture depends on shared understanding

how culture is produced?

Bibliography:

1. Dombrowski, E., Bick, M. and Rotenberg, L., 2013. Theory of knowledge. Oxford: Oxford

Univ. Press.

2. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2022. Isaac Newton | Biography, Facts, Discoveries, Laws, &

Inventions. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Newton>

[Accessed 1 February 2022].

3. Mathematics performance among 15-year-olds. 2022. OECD library. [online] Available at:

<https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2015-results-volume-i/mathematics-

performance-among-15-year-olds_9789264266490-9-en> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

4. Good Housekeeping. 2022. Saying That "Black Lives Matter" Doesn't Mean That Other Lives

Do Not. [online] Available at: <https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a32745051/what-

black-lives-matter-means/> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

6
5. Hendriks, P., 2022. Assessing the role of culture in knowledge sharing. [online]

www.researchgate.net. Available at:

<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254115219_Assessing_the_role_of_culture_in_kn

owledge_sharing> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

6. Helmenstine, A., 2022. Why Mathematics Is a Language | Mathnasium. [online]

Mathnasium.com. Available at:

<https://www.mathnasium.com/southtowns/news/httpswwwthoughtcocomwhy-mathematics-

is-a-language-

4158142textin20order20to20be20consideredthis20definition20of20a20languagetextmath20is

20a20universal20languageevery20country20of20the20world> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

7. Schwarz, B., 2022. The Real Cuban Missile Crisis. [online] The Atlantic. Available at:

<https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/the-real-cuban-missile-crisis/

309190/> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

8. Shuttleworth, M. and Shuttleworth, M., 2022. Babylonian Mathematics and Numerals -

Developed in Mesopotamia. [online] Explorable.com. Available at:

<https://explorable.com/babylonian-mathematics> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

9. TOK 2022: THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE WEBSITE FOR THE IBDP. 2022. TOK 2022: Free

theory of knowledge website. [online] Available at: <https://www.tok2022.net/> [Accessed 1

February 2022].

10. Usatoday.com. 2022. Math scores stink in America. [online] Available at:

<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/02/28/math-scores-high-school-

lessons-freakonomics-pisa-algebra-geometry/4835742002/> [Accessed 1 February 2022].

7
11. Walsh, B., 1999. GCSE Modern World History. 2nd ed. London, United Kingdom: Hodder

Education.

12. Wilson Center. 2022. The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy,

Khrushchev, and the Missiles of November. [online] Available at:

<https://www.wilsoncenter.org/book/the-soviet-cuban-missile-crisis-castro-mikoyan-kennedy-

khrushchev-and-the-missiles-november> [Accessed 1 February 2022].