PHIL 228 - Epistemology

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

What is knowledge, how do we get it, and what does it take to count as having it? In ordinary life, science, medicine, law, and politics, we need to have answers to these questions so that we can assess who we can trust, what information is reliable, and whether our conclusions are correct. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy concerned with addressing such questions, and in this course, we study both historical and contemporary approaches to answering them. We consider skeptical challenges, such as: can we truly rely on our sense perception to learn about the world? And: how fallible is our ability to reason? We ask whether there are ways of justifying our knowledge claims by identifying specific relationships among our beliefs and the world. In addition, we consider some social and moral aspects of knowledge acquisition and knowledge production, which might include the nature of expertise and epistemic authority, and the question of whether withholding knowledge from others or neglecting our own learning may constitute moral failings. Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa.

Prerequisite(s): One course in Philosophy, or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS

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