- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Epistemology B 3501-WISIP-EPB2-OG
Epistemology B is the continuation of the semester I Epistemology A course. The course will have four main parts: (1) philosophical theories of perception (and other sources of knowledge); (2) theories of truth (and the debate between realism and antirealism), (3) the challenge of skepticism, and (4) the naturalization of epistemology.
We will consider the debate between direct and indirect realism, the argument from illusion, a variety of philosophical theories of perception: sense-data, adverbial, intentionalist, disjunctivist.
We will consider traditional as well as contemporary approaches to truth. Among others, we will talk about the correspondence, semantic, coherence, pragmatic as well as deflationist theories of truth. We will discuss scientific realism and antirealism as well as semantic antirealism (Putnam’s internal realism, Dummett’s program). We will consider various skeptical arguments and a variety of responses to the skeptic, among others: Moore’s argument for the existence of the external world, strategies involving the rejection of the closure principle, naturalism, contextualism, epistemological externalism, Wittgenstein’s arguments, Goodman’s new riddle of induction, Putnam’s brain-in-a-vat argument, Davidson’s radical interpretation argument.
Type of course
general courses
Mode
Learning outcomes
Acquired knowledge
- knows basic epistemological terminology in English (W03, W05)
- knows the relation between epistemology and the main philosophical subdisciplines (W02)
- knows the relation between epistemology and sciences of cognition (W02)
- has knowledge of the main positions in epistemology (W06, W08)
- understands the main epistemological problems (W06, W08)
- knows what giving arguments and counterarguments consists in (W14)
Acquired skills
- is able to apply epistemological terminology correctly (U05)
- is able to analyze epistemological arguments, identify its crucial premises as well as understand the relations between the conclusions and premises (U04, U07, U08, U09)
- is able to give arguments for and against the main positions in contemporary epistemology (U07, U8, U09, U16)
Acquired social competences
- is open to discuss epistemological issues (K02)
- is open to new proposals of solutions to problems (K02)
Assessment criteria
See relevant section below (for a given academic year)
Bibliography
J. Dancy, Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)
D. O’Brien, 2017, An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, Cambridge: Polity.
J. Nagel, 2014. Knowledge. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: