Epistemology is the area of
philosophy concerned with the
systematic study of knowledge,
belief, and justification.
Specific questions in this
areas include the following:
What is knowledge? Do we have
any? How is knowledge different
from mere opinion? What is
it for a belief to be justified?
This semester, we’ll
consider these very general
questions, and we’ll
also consider some more specific
questions about particular
sources of knowledge, such
as perception, memory, reasoning,
and testimony. For instance,
we’ll consider how perceptual
experience, say of an apple
immediately before you, justifies
your belief that there is an
apple before you, or how a
memory can justify your beliefs
about the past.
I have several goals in this
class. The first is to sketch
out a map of the problems and
issues in epistemology—to
introduce you to the central
questions, the space of possible
answers to them, and how these
answers fit together. The second
is to add some detail to a
few places on this map. The
third is to deepen your understanding
of how to approach philosophical
questions in general, and how
to defend and criticize a philosophical
position. The fourth goal is
to help you improve your skills
in writing philosophical papers.
The third and fourth goals
are I some ways the most important,
since these skills have a wide
range of application outside
this particular class and outside
of your college classes in
general. I design all of the
quizzes and writing assignments,
and direct classroom discussion,
with the third and fourth goals
in view. The best thing you
can do to develop your skills
as a philosopher is to talk
with me and your fellow students
about it, and to revise your
papers in light of comments
from me and others. I will
give you many opportunities
to do both this semester.
II. Required Texts
1. Laurence Bonjour, Epistemology,
Rowman and Littlefield ($27.95)
2. Sven Bernecker and Fred
Dretske, eds. Knowledge:
Readings in Contemporary Epistemology.
Oxford, UK: OUP ($43.95)
