PHIL336L - Epistemology: The Theory of Knowledge

3 Credit(s)

Liberal Arts
What is knowledge and how is it acquired? Those are the two basic questions that this course will examine. Is all knowledge ultimately based on the information provided by our senses, or is some knowledge in us at birth? If knowledge is based on the information provided by our senses, how can we ever go beyond this to know about things not available to our senses-like atoms, the shape of the universe, or the nature of our souls? Do we know the world as it really is or only as it appears to us? Or is that a false alternative? What is truth? Is a claim true if it corresponds to the facts or because it coheres with our other claims or because it works to achieve our ends? How do we justify our beliefs? Is certainty ever possible? Students will critically examine answers to questions such as these given by some of the great thinkers in the history of philosophy, as well as attempt to answer them for themselves.

Offered When: Every three years.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 101L