IB Theory of Knowledge 3.2.2 When Ethics Limits What We Can Know Notes

When Ethics Limits What We Can Know

1. In the human sciences, knowledge is cut off in three ways:
   1. Method restrictions: some techniques are banned because they cause harm.
   2. Topic taboos: some questions can’t be studied at all.
   3. Participant protections: strict rules about consent and treatment.
2. These limits shape the scope, methods, and reliability of knowledge itself.

Method Restrictions Block Powerful Experiments

1. Method restrictions force researchers to use less effective approaches.
2. Sleep deprivation research is a great example of this.
3. We desperately need to understand how extreme fatigue affects critical decision-making, surgeons work for days straight, pilots fly exhausted, military personnel make life-or-death choices while sleep-deprived.
4. The ideal study would keep people awake for five days and test their judgment under pressure.
5. But of course, ethics boards allow only mild sleep loss studies of 24-48 hours maximum.
6. These are known as topic taboos, which emerge when any method to study a question would be inherently unethical.

Topic Taboos Remove Entire Questions

1. Sometimes the barrier is not the method but the question itself.