This course will introduce you to philosophy through
the study of epistemology, the science of knowledge. By the end of the
course, you will be familiar with the vocabulary and methods of this branch
of philosophy. You will have improved your ability to evaluate arguments
and difficult texts, and this improvement will be evident in your writing
and in your ability to contribute to discussions of academic material.
No previous work in philosophy is required for this course.
Required Text
Pojman, Louis P. The Theory of Knowledge: Classic
and Contemporary Readings. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993.
Required Work
* Attend and participate in all class meetings
* Read assignments from the text before each
class meeting
* Complete a series of brief, unannounced in-class
quizzes
* Write both rough and final drafts of three
4 - 6 page papers on assigned topics
Grading
Your grade will depend equally on four factors:
the three papers and the quizzes. The frequency and quality of your class
participation can also affect your final grade for the course, especially
if your average for the course falls between two grades. The quizzes will
consist of short questions such as definitions and true/false. Quizzes
will not be announced, and there will be no make-up quizzes. Quiz grades
will be on a percentage basis. Students who must miss quizzes because of
true emergencies, illness or religious holidays are required to notify
me in advance. Students with excused absences will have their quiz grades
computed as a percentage of a lower number of points, depending on how
many points were on the quizzes missed. Quizzes missed with no excused
absence will receive no credit. Assignments and deadlines for the papers
will be distributed in class. Late papers will be accepted at a penalty
of one letter grade per day. No excuses will be accepted for an assignment
after the deadline has passed.
Readings
We will discuss the following readings, roughly
one per class meeting. Reading assignments will be announced in class for
the following meeting. This list is subject to change. Several authors
are represented more than once-please be sure to read the appropriate selection.
Skepticism:
Descartes, Meditation I
Hume, Scepticism with regard to the Senses
Moore, “A Defense of Common Sense”
Lehrer, “Why Not Skepticism?”
Malcolm, “Two Types of Knowledge”
Analysis of knowledge
Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”
Goldman (IV.2.) “A Causal Theory
of Knowing”
Lehrer and Paxson, “Knowledge: Undefeated
Justified True Belief”
Justification: foundationalism and coherentism
Descartes, Meditations II and III
Audi, “Contemporary Foundationalism”
Sosa, “The Raft and the Pyramid…”
Annis, “A Contextual Theory of Epistemic
Justification”
Rorty, “Dismantling Truth: Solidarity
versus Objectivity”
Justification: externalism and internalism
Goldman, “Reliabilism: What is Justified Belief?”
Lehrer, “A Critique of Externalism”
Quine, “Epistemology Naturalized”
Feminism and Epistemology
Antony, “Quine
as Feminist: The Radical Import of Naturalized Epistemology” (on reserve)
-> class members only may click on link to access this reading
Code, “Is the Sex of the Knower Epistemologically
Significant?”
Longino, “Feminist Epistemology as Local
Epistemology”
