2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

9 Industrial Revolution – such as the modern automobile, and factory machinery for clothing production. Development of knowledge was influenced by Plato’s philosophy that all true belief must be accompanied by a logical account, in order for it to be considered knowledge. People were increasingly being drawn to the idea of finding research to accompany their knowledge, and then not just having this knowledge, but using it. During the Industrial Revolution, Plato’s Learner’s Paradox (refer to Appendix 1) was seen to arise. People were making new discoveries, and developing furthered knowledge, however this would have been impossible, if not for the knowledge gained in the separation of the Church and State, the Renaissance, and that of Plato and Aristotle themselves. The word ‘evolution’ suggests that nothing completely new was created, rather the previous knowledge was merely further developed upon, therefore it is possible to say that there was an evolution of knowledge throughout the Industrial Revolution. However, in order to develop existing knowledge, something new is required. So, whilst there were many new discoveries made in the Industrial Revolution, and ‘new’ knowledge created, it is difficult, within the confines of Plato’s Learner’s Paradox, to state whether there was an actual evolution of knowledge. Nevertheless, the evolution of knowledge seen in the Industrial Revolution greatly affected our world today. Technology today, has an ever-growing impact on our day-to-day lives, and our world relies heavily on new technological developments. Without the intellectual advances in the Industrial Revolution (refer to Appendix 4), we would be without much of our technology today, affecting production rates of materials and agricultural products, and with our extreme population numbers that we see in society today, that could prove to be fatal.