Knowledge and Justification

Code

PHIL2010

School

Philosophy

Level

2

Credits

20

Semesters

Spring UK

Summary

Aristotle declared that “All men by nature desire to know”. But we apparently live in a ‘post-truth’ era characterized by fake news, alternative facts, and scorn for expertise. These are major dangers to our way of life and dealing with them requires epistemology—the study of such topics as knowledge, evidence, justification, and reliability. In this module, we will explore issues such as: the nature and value of knowledge, the relationship between knowledge and justification, the threat of skepticism, the role of testimony in acquiring knowledge, and various intellectual virtues and vices. Some questions we will tackle include: What is knowledge? Why should we care about it? What is our justification for believing things? Do we know that we’re not brains in vats? Do we know anything at all? 

Target Students

Second year single honours and joint honours Philosophy students and exchange students. Also available to second year Liberal Arts students who have either done PHIL1012 or PHIL1013; or are doing PHIL1012 OR PHIL1013 (co-requisite). Also available to single honours Philosophy and joint honours Music and Philosophy students in their final year taking 20 credits of Level 2 modules.

Co-requisites

Modules you must take in the same academic year, or have taken in a previous year, to enrol in this module:

• Reasoning, Argument, and Logic (PHIL1012)
• Mind, Knowledge, and Ethics (PHIL1013)

Classes

• One 1-hour seminar each week for 10 weeks
• One 2-hour lecture each week for 10 weeks

Total contact time 34 weeks + activities scheduled during Directed Studies week

Assessment

• 50% Coursework 1: 2000 word essay
• 50% Coursework 2: 2000 word essay

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge:

• Students should have a critical appreciation of the basic disputes over the nature and possibility of epistemic justification.
• Students should have a critical appreciation of the basic disputes over the nature and possibility of knowledge.

Skills:

• Students should be able to reason, philosophically, to a well thought-out position on various topics in epistemology.
• Students should be able to develop their own views, systematically, drawing upon the sources on which the module focuses.
• Students should be able to express themselves clearly and precisely, both in writing and in seminar discussion.

Understanding:

• Students should have a critical understanding of a variety of approaches to basic issues pertaining to epistemic justification.
• Students should have a critical understanding of some central contemporary treatments of knowledge and skepticism.

Conveners

• Dr Michael Hannon