PHIL 4105W is also offered in Fall 2024
PHIL 4105W is also offered in Fall 2021
Fall 2021 | PHIL 4105W Section 001: Epistemology (22729)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- A-F or Audit
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
- Meets With:
PHIL 5105 Section 001
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Mon,
Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Hubert H Humphrey Center 30
- Enrollment Status:
Open (25 of 28 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Epistemology is the study of knowledge. Epistemological questions include questions about the nature of knowledge, the difference between knowledge and true belief, the nature of justification, and the structure of our knowledge about the world. Epistemology is also centrally concerned with understanding and responding to arguments for skepticism, the view that we do not know anything about the world around us. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the some of the main problems of epistemology and to investigate some of their solutions. prereq: 1001 or instr consent
- Class Description:
- This course is a survey of central issues in contemporary epistemology. We will start by considering the difference between a justified and an unjustified belief. This will take us into questions like the following: If you know something, will you always know that you know it? Does knowledge always have to be based on secure foundations? What are the connections between knowledge and evidence? Then we will examine skeptical arguments that we can't really know whether the world is the way it appears to us. Perhaps things only appear the way they do because we are wired up to computers which are force-feeding us the experiences we have. If so, then all we can really know about are our own private thoughts and experiences. Knowledge can be subdivided according to the sources from which it arises. Towards the end of the term we will discuss two of the basic sources of knowledge--perception and reason. In sense perception, are we directly aware of our subjective experiences or of the things in the outside world? Is it possible to acquire knowledge independently of experience, by reason or pure thought alone?Phil 4105W will be taught by Sven Bernecker.
- Grading:
- 92% Reports/Papers
8% Quizzes
- Exam Format:
- Quizzes will consist of short definitions and true/false.
- Workload:
- Other Workload: Students are required to turn in four short (4-6 pages) papers on assigned topics. A separate hand-out will list the paper topics and their due dates. In addition to the papers, there will be a few unannounced in-class quizzes.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/22729/1219
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 21 May 2007
ClassInfo Links - Fall 2021 Philosophy Classes