Philosophy 132: Epistemology
Spring 2005
Where: CSB 001
When: Thuesdays and Thursdays, 2-3:20
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
email: joncohen AT aardvark DOT ucsd DOT edu
office phone: (858) 534 6812
Office hours: Tuesdays 10:30-12, in H&SS 8072.
Overview
This is a course in recent and contemporary approaches to the theory
of knowledge.
We'll be looking at some of the major debates in epistemology,
including those over the structure of knowledge, the proper analysis
of knowledge, justification, and related notions, as well as some
meta-epistemological issues that have arisen in recent discussions of
so-called naturalized epistemology.
The course will not presuppose any exposure to the relevant
literatures, and will be a broad overview of some of the going
accounts and controversies.
Course Requirements
There will be two assigned papers for the course, and a take home
final exam.
There will be no midterm.
Academic Integrity
Violations of academic integrity will not be tolerated in this
course; violators will receive an F on at least the relevant
assignment and possibly the course, and will be subjected to UCSD's
disciplinary procedures (which could result in penalties including
permanent explusion from the university).
You are responsible for knowing and adhering to the UCSD
Policy on Integrity in all respects.
In particular, you may not cause or allow your work for this course to
resemble that of any other person, and all use of the ideas or words
of anyone other than a paper's author must be acknowledged properly.
I don't care a huge amount about specific citation formats; I do care
a huge amount that sources are acknowledged.
As far as collaboration goes, it's fine (it's encouraged) to talk
about the philosophical issues with other students or anyone
else you like; but when it is time to write up an essay you should do
so entirely by yourself.
If you have any questions about the Policy on Integrity or how to
follow it (e.g., if you are unsure how to cite ideas from other
sources) please ask me!
I am very happy to help prevent real or apparent violations of
academic integrity before they occur, and very unhappy to discover
that they have occured.
As you may have noticed, I feel very strongly about this issue.
Required Text
There is one required text for the course: Ernest Sosa's and Jaegwon
Kim's Epistemology: An Anthology (Blackwell). This book
is, I'm told, available in the UCSD bookstore.
Tentative Schedule
This schedule is tentative in both its content and its timing; I reserve
the right to add, subtract, or reschedule items as the course
progresses.
(In particular, I am skeptical that we'll have time for segment 6 at
all; but we can try!)
Readings marked '*' are available at the UCSD library e-reserves; all
others are in the Kim and Sosa anthology.
Segment 1: Skepticism
- Descartes, Meditations I-II*
- Moore, "Proof of an External World"
- Moore, "Certainty"
- Unger, "An Argument for Skepticism"
Segment 2: The Analysis of Knowledge
- Gettier, "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?"
- Nozick, "Knowledge and Skepticism"
- Klein, "A Proposed Definition of Propositional Knowledge"
Segment 3: Foundations and Coherence
- Chisolm, "The Myth of the Given"
- Sellars, "Does Empirical Knowledge Have a Foundation?"
- Davidson, "A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge"
- Sosa, "The Raft and the Pyramid" (skip appendix)
Segment 4: Reliabilism and Externalism
- Goldman, "What is Justified Belief?"
- Conee and Feldman, "The Generality Problem for Reliabilism"
- Lehrer, "Externalism and Epistemology Naturalized"
Segment 5: Epistemological Naturalism
- Quine, "Epistemology Naturalized"
- Kim, "What Is `Naturalized Epistemology'?"
- Bonjour, "Against Naturalized Epistemology"*
- Kornblith, "Naturalistic Epistemology and its Critics"*
Segment 6: Contextualism
- DeRose, "Solving the Skeptical Problem"
- Lewis, "Elusive Knowledge"
- Schiffer, "Contextualist Solutions to Skepticism"*