Epistemology 3501-DAO2E
Epistemology is concerned with such questions as "What, if anything, do we know?", "What is knowledge?" as well as "How is knowledge possible?
We will touch on each of the three issues in the three parts of the course. In the first part, we will take a look at scientific knowledge. Despite the fact that it appears to be the most solid kind of knowledge, it has been subject to a serious skeptical challenge (Hume's problem of induction). We will discuss the two main responses to the skeptical challenge (neo-inductivism and falsificationism), paying particular attention to their accounts of justification.
In the second, and main part of the course, we will take up the difficult question of the analysis of knowledge. We will consider the challenge of Gettier's problem. We will also discuss various theories of truth and the debate between realism and antirealism, various theories of justification and the debate between internalism and externalism, as well as various theories of perception and the debate about sense data.
In the third part of the course, we will consider the intersection between philosophy of mind and epistemology and ask the question, how creatures such as we (equipped with brains) can know anything at all. The answer to this question involves having an answer to the old mind-body problem, but also an answer to the question how we can represent the world.
The lecture schedule will be available on the website. The topics we will cover include (please, note that I reserve the right to change the order of the topics to be discussed):
I. Scientific knowledge: narrow inductivism, the problem of induction, wide inductivism, falsificationism, Bayesian theory of confirmation
II. Knowledge: JTB account, Gettier problem and responses, Nozick’s account of knowledge, reliabilism, epistemological internalism vs. externalism
III. Structure of justification: foundationalism, Quine’s holism, Sellars’ myth of the given, coherentism, infinitism
IV. Theories of mind and belief: dualism, mind-body problem, behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, eliminativism, internalism vs. externalism about mental content, consciousness, theories of representation: causal-correlational, conceptual role semantics, interpretationism; naturalization of epistemology
V. Perception and other sources of knowledge: argument from illusion, Ayer & Austin debate, theories of perception: sense-datum, adverbial, intentionalist, disjunctive; introspection, memory, reason, testimony
VI. Truth and Realism: correspondence, semantic, coherence, pragmatic, deflationism, identity; scientific realism and antirealism; semantic antirealism: Putnam’s internal realism, Dummett’s program
VII. Skepticism: skeptical arguments; responses to the skeptic I: Moore, rejecting the closure principle, naturalism, contextualism, epistemological externalism; responses II: idealism/ phenomenalism, Wittgenstein, Goodman’s new riddle of induction, Putnam’s brain-in-a-vat argument, Davidson’s radical interpretation argument
Type of course
Mode
Classroom
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
- knows epistemological terminology in English
- knows the relation between epistemology and other philosophical areas
- has an ordered knowledge about the main positions in epistemology
- understands basic epistemological problems
- is able to give arguments for and against the main positions in contemporary epistemology
- reads and interprets an epistemological paper
- applies epistemological terminology correctly
- analyzes epistemological arguments, identifies their premises, recognizes the logical connections between the steps of the arguments
- identifies the main claims in a text according to their relevance
- is open to discussion and new proposals to solve problems
- is able to cooperate in a group, adopting various roles
Assessment criteria
In order to receive a positive exam grade, you must pass the tutorial. If you do not pass the tutorial, you will not receive a positive grade on the exam, whatever the calculations.
Lecture:
The exams will cover the material from the lectures as well as from the required textbooks.
There are two exams:
• Midterm Exam (winter exam session)
• Final Exam (summer exam session)
The grading system is complex but exceedingly fair.
In addition to the official exams (two exams in the winter session: WA and WB, and two exams in the summer session: SA and SB), you will have the opportunity to take four in-class tests: T1, T2, T3, T4. Theoretically, you can obtain both exam grades just by passing the in-class tests.
The material will be divided into 4 parts, at the end of each parts, a test will be given. The Midterm Exam will cover the first two parts of the material, while the Final exam will cover the last two parts of the material.
I will calculate a separate grade for each of the four parts of the material. Let WA1 stand for the grade on Part 1 of the material obtained on the midterm exam in February, let WB1 stand for the grade on Part 1 of the material obtained on the final exam in March, etc. The midterm exam grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
Midterm Exam grade = 0,5 • MAX(T1, WA1, WB1) + 0,5 • MAX(T2, WA2, WB2)
where MAX(x, y, z) is the largest number from among x, y, and z. Let SA3 stand for the grade on Part 3 of the material obtained on the final exam in June, let SB3 stand for the grade on Part 3 of the material obtained on the final exam in September, etc. The final grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
Final Exam grade = 0,5 • MAX(T3, SA3, SB3) + 0,5 • MAX(T4, SA4, SB4)
Grading scale
Point range Grade
(9, 10> 5 bdb
(8, 9> 4,5 db+
(7, 8> 4,0 db
(6, 7> 3,5 dst+
(5, 6> 3,0 dst
<0, 5> 2 ndst
Tutorial:
Grade will be based on written tests as well as active participation in class discussions. The exact requirements will be provided by the tutorial leader.
Bibliography
Jonathan Dancy, /Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology/ (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)
O’Brien, D., 2006, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, Cambridge: Polity.
M. Steup & E. Sosa, /Contemporary Debates in Epistemology /(Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)
S. Bernecker, /Reading Epistemology/ (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006)
E. Sosa, J. Kim, J. Fantl, M. McGrath, /Epistemology, /2nd edition (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008)