Postgraduate Course: Epistemology (Online) (PHIL11131)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is aimed at offering an overview of a selection of core topics in epistemology.
The course will start in teaching week 2. |
| Course description |
The course examines the nature of human knowledge and cognition. This area is called 'epistemology' and it is among the classic and continuously prominent sub-fields of philosophy. We will address it by considering the following topics.
1. Theory of knowledge: What is knowledge? We will consider a number of attempts to analyze knowledge and the methodology involved in doing so.
2. Skepticism. Do we know anything about the external world? There are some surprisingly strong 'skeptical' arguments that conclude that we do not. We will consider the structure and methodology behind some such arguments.
3. Contextualism. We will consider contextualism about the term 'knows' as a theory of knowledge, as an attempt to solve skeptical challenges and as a case that raises methodological questions pertaining to the role of intuitions and experimental methods.
These issues exemplify core epistemological questions. As we discuss them, we will consider the appropriate methodology for doing so as well as the relationship between epistemology and the cognitive sciences.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2016/17, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
85 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Students will be assessed by a 2500 word essay at the end of the semester (85%) and successful participation in the on-line activities associated with the course. How the participation component will be assessed will be made clear to the students at the start of the course.
Essay deadline: Monday 17th April 2017 by 12 noon
Word limit: 2500 words maximum (excluding references)
Return deadline: Tuesday 9th May 2017 |
| Feedback |
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic.
Formative essay deadline: Thursday 2nd March 2017 by 12 noon
Return deadline: Friday 24th March 2017 |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- have a grasp of fundamental issues, views and concepts in epistemology.
- critically analyze and engage with the contemporary epistemological literature.
- appreciate how empirical work can and cannot support philosophical arguments, and be able to use empirical data in their essays and arguments.
- present arguments clearly and concisely both within a classroom and in a 2,500 word essay.
- gain transferable skills in research, analysis and argumentation.
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Reading List
Class reading
Week 1:
Gettier, Edmund (1963). Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Analysis 23 (6):121-123.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/GETIJT-4
Week 2:
Descartes, Rene (1641). The First Meditation from Meditations on First Philosophy.
Klein, Peter. 2001: Skepticism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Online: http://plato.Stanford.edu/entries/skepticism/
Week 3:
Williams, Michael. 2001: Skepticism. The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology (eds. Sosa and Kim), pp. 35-69.
Online:http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/uid=2748/tocnode?id=g9780631202912_chun k_g97806312029124
Week 4:
Goldman, Alvin I. (1979). What is Justified Belief? In Ernest Sosa & Jaegwon Kim (eds.),
Week 5:
Graham, Peter J. (2012). Epistemic Entitlement. Noûs 46 (3):449-482.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/GRAEE
Week 6:
Rysiew, Patrick (2009): Epistemic Contextualism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta. Spring 2009 edn.
Online: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contextualism-epistemology/
Week 7:
Rysiew, Patrick. (2001). The context-sensitivity of knowledge attributions. Noûs, 35 (4): 477-514.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/RYSTCO
Week 8:
Nagel, Jennifer (2010). Knowledge ascriptions and the psychological consequences of thinking about error. Philosophical Quarterly 60 (239):286-306.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/NAGKAA-2
Week 9:
Schaffer, Jonathan & Knobe, Joshua (2012). Contrastive Knowledge Surveyed. Noûs 46 (4):675-708.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/SCHCKS-2
Week 10:
Gerken, M. (2013). Epistemic Focal Bias. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 91 (1):41-61.
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/GEREFB
Week 11:
Nagel, Jennifer. Forthcoming. 'Intuitions and Experiments: A Defense of
the Case Method in Epistemology', Philosophy and Phenomenological Research:
Online: http://philpapers.org/archive/NAGIAE.1.pdf
Background reading is available on Learn course page. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
Please see Learn page |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Priority for this course will be given to online MSc/Dip/Cert Epistemology, Ethics and Mind students.
The course will be taught by Stephen Ryan and Dr Joey Pollock. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Stephen Ryan
Tel:
Email: sryan210@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk |
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