Epistemology 3501-DO2E
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 two 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 issue of the analysis of the concept 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.
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
Lecture:
Exam I (in winter session) - on the material from the semester I
Exam II (in summer session) - on the material from the semester II
(It is impossible to write Exam I in the summer session)
The exams will cover the material from the lectures as well as from the required textbooks.
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
Required texts (in Polish):
Ajdukiewicz K., Zagadnienia i kierunki filozofii, część I (Teoria poznania).
Chalmers A., Czym jest to, co zwiemy nauką.
Bertrand Russell, Problemy filozofii.
Woleński J., Epistemologia.
Optional texts (in English)
Dancy, J., 1985, An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, Oxford: Blackwell.
Lehrer, Keith. 1990. Theory of Knowledge. Boulder: Westview Press.
O’Brien, D., 2006, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, Cambridge: Polity.
Bernecker, S., ed., 2006, Epistemology: Selected Texts with Interactive Commentary, Oxford: Blackwell.
Greco, John and Sosa, Ernest (eds.). 1999. The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology. Oxford: Blackwell.
Huemer, M., red., 2002, Epistemology: Contemporary Readings, London: Routledge.
Sosa, E., Kim, J., Fantl, J., McGrath, M., red., 2008, Epistemology: An Anthology, drugie wydanie, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Steup, Matthias and Sosa, Ernest (eds). 2005. Contemporary Debates in Epistemology. Oxford: Blackwell.