JH3 Epistemology
Epistemology is, broadly construed, the theory of knowledge, its scope and its nature. This course aims to get students up to speed in a range of key contemporary debates in mainstream epistemology. In particular, the course will introduce students to the following eight key topics, with two lectures dedicated to each: (i) the regress problem; (ii) the a priori, (iii) the nature of knowledge; (iv) memory, (v) testimony; (vi) kinds of knowledge; (vii) internalism versus externalism; (viii) scepticism. The course is designed to facilitate competence in all of these areas, and also, to empower students to critically engage with some of the key debates that feature in each of them.
Course lecturer: Dr Jamie Collin
Semester: 1
Lecture hour & venue: See Honours timetable
Course texts: the main course texts will be:
- Carter, J.A. & Littlejohn, C. (2020). This is Epistemology. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Steup, M., Turri, J., & Sosa, E. (Eds.). (2013). Contemporary Debates in Epistemology (2nd edition). John Wiley & Sons.
Teaching resources for this course will be made available on the Philosophy Moodle site.
For those interested in reading some optional background material before the course begins, the following SEP entries might be useful:
- Steup, Matthias and Neta, Ram, "Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2020/entries/epistemology
- Ichikawa, Jonathan Jenkins and Steup, Matthias, "The Analysis of Knowledge", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/knowledge-analysis
- Adler, Jonathan, "Epistemological Problems of Testimony", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/testimony-episprob