Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch to be sure.

Anon

Our next unit will be to examine what is the role of evidence in our pursuit of certainty about our world. Do we need evidence in order for something to be true? If we do, what qualifies as "good" evidence? We will focus our discussion on the ways of knowing and the areas of knowledge of the Natural Sciences, the Human Sciences and History.

Essential Questions

1. Do sense perception, reason and emotion have the same weight in providing good evidence?

2. What is the role of evidence in the Natural Sciences, particularly the scientific method? Is there just one scientific method?

3. Does the number of people who agree (consensus) that something is "true" qualify as evidence?

4. What constitutes good evidence in the human sciences? Can human behavior be subject to laws in the same way as the material world?

5. What constitutes a fact? Must facts be empirically derived and are all sources of facts "created equal"? In the absence of evidence, is certainty possible? Can there be certainty about a claim that is false?

6. What is unique about the methodology of history? Is eyewitness testimony a reliable source of evidence? Is the historian a creator or the recorder of the past?

7. What constitutes good evidence within the different ways of knowing and areas of knowledge? (Comparing NS, HS, and History)

8. What is the role of evidence in changing how we understand and explain the world? (paradigm shifts)

 

Assessment

Your summative assessment for this unit will be a presentation. This will be our second opportunity to demonstrate our ability to verbally extract and evaluate a knowledge question. The presentation will be one a topic of your choice that reflects the relationship between the Natural Sciences, the Human Sciences and History in regards to their use, reliance, and evaluation of evidence. For more details on deadlines and requirements, see the Evidence Presentation Description

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To prepare for this presentation

and to organize your

ideas for future assessments,

please download and

complete a knowledge

framework for each AOK

covered in this unit.

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​Natural Sciences and Human Sciences and the Knowledge Framework