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Professor |
GSIs |
Lecture |
Sections |
Branden
Fitelson |
Vanessa de Harven James Genone |
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[ Textbook & Supplemental Materials ] [ What, When, Where, Why? ] [ Grades, etc. ] [ Tentative Schedule ]
Our main textbook is Audi's Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. There is also a recommended companion collection of readings edited by Huemer called Epistemology: Contemporary Readings. I may also add additional links (in the course schedule, below) to other readings as the course unfolds. Basically, we will be working through the entire Audi text, and the other readings are meant to fill-in the historical background of the topics covered by Audi. The details of our progression through the course are contained in the course schedule, below.
For some useful general tips on reading philosophy, I recommend the "Reading Philosophy" appendix from Perry and Bratman's Introduction to Philosophy.
[Note: The readings in the course can be rather difficult, and they do presuppose some basic philosophical background. As such, I don't strongly recommend this course to anyone who has taken fewer than two previous philosophy courses.]
Philosophy 122 consists of two 75-minute lectures per week [12:30–2 TR @ 3108 Etcheverry], and one 50-minute discussion section per week. We will arrange section times, places, and rosters during the first week of class. Keep an eye on our Sections Page for details about discussion section times and places, at
Attendance will not figure explicitly into your final grade. But, I highly recommend attending both lecture and sections regularly. The course will move quickly, and much of the material will likely be new to you (and non-trivial!). So, skipping class would probably be a bad idea.
The objective of this course is to get a broad overview of the landscape of contemporary epistemology. As such, the emphasis will be on various concepts and arguments that are prominent in the field, rather than on particular philosophers who have instantiated various views. However, the supplementary readings do provide a nice sampling of the main figures of epistemology (mainly, the contemporary figures).
There will be just three assignments in this course: two 5-page essays and one (in-class) final exam. Specifically, your final grade in the course will be a straight average of your grades on the following three assignments:
For details on these assignments (including the usual spiel on plagiarism), see our assignments page, at:
For many useful tips on philosophical writing, I recommend Jim Pryor's "Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper".
We will be following the Audi text rather closely throughout the semester (this averages out to about 10-15 pages of Audi per lecture). The following table gives a sense of what we will be doing on each day of the course. The required readings for each day are listed, along with recommended readings for that day. Be sure to go over the required readings very carefully before each lecture. This should involve very careful reading and re-reading of Audi's text and notes (and as much of Huemer's as you can muster), and coming up with questions for class. The table also includes the timeline for assignments. This schedule is subject to change and updating, so stay tuned to it…
| Week 1, January 15-19 (pp. 1-27 of Audi) | ||
| First class; Administrative stuff, brief introduction to the course — Audi's Introductory chapter (pp. 1–11 of Audi) Recommended: Audi's introduction to the Huemer volume (pp. 1–24 of Huemer) |
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| Perception I (pp. 16–27 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his perception readings, and as many of the perception readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 2, January 22-26 (pp. 27-54 of Audi) | ||
| Perception II (pp. 28–39 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his perception readings, and as many of the perception readings as you can muster. |
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| Perception III (pp. 40–54 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his perception readings, and as many of the perception readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 3, January 29 - February 2 (pp. 56–74 of Audi) | ||
| No Lecture (Branden's in NYC). | ||
| Memory (pp. 56–74 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his memory readings, and as many of the memory readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 4, February 5-9 (pp. 76–105 of Audi) | ||
| Consciousness (pp. 76–92 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his consciousness readings, and as many of the consciousness readings as you can muster. |
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Reason I (pp. 94–105 of Audi) |
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| Week 5, February 12-16 (pp. 105 – 130 of Audi) | ||
| Reason II (pp. 105–116 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his "reason and the a priori" readings, and as many of the "reason and the a priori" readings as you can muster. |
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Reason III (pp. 116–130 of Audi) |
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| Week 6, February 19-23 (pp. 132 –140 of Audi) | ||
No lecture (Branden's in Banff). |
Essay #1 Due. |
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Testimony I (pp. 132–140 of Audi) |
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| Week 7, February 26 - March 2 (pp. 140–166 of Audi) | ||
Testimony II (pp. 140 –152 of Audi) |
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Inference & The Extension of Knowledge I (~pp. 156 –166 of Audi) |
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| Week 8, March 5-9 (pp. 167–194 of Audi) | ||
| Inference & The Extension of Knowledge II (~pp. 167–182 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his inference & extension readings, and as many of the inference & extension readings as you can muster. |
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| The Architecture of Knowledge I (~pp. 184–194 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his architecture readings, and as many of the architecture readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 9, March 12-16 (pp. 194 –216 of Audi) | ||
The Architecture of Knowledge II (~pp. 194–204 of Audi) |
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| The Architecture of Knowledge III (~pp. 204–216 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his architecture readings, and as many of the architecture readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 10, March 19-23 (pp. 220 –235 of Audi) | ||
The Analysis of Knowledge I (pp. 220–227 of Audi) |
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The Analysis of Knowledge II (pp. 228 –235 of Audi) |
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| Week 11, March 26 - 30 (SPRING BREAK) | ||
No Class — SPRING BREAK
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| Week 12, April 2-6 (pp. 236–255 of Audi) | ||
The Analysis of Knowledge III (pp. 236 –243 of Audi) |
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The Analysis of Knowledge IV (pp. 244–255 of Audi) |
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| Week 13, April 9-13 (pp. 258 –278 of Audi) | ||
| Scientific, Moral, and Religious Knowledge I (pp. 258–267 of Audi) Recommended: Scientific Realism and The Social Dimensions of Scientifiic Knowledge, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — ALSO, FORSTER ON VERISIMILITUDE |
Essay #2 Due. |
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| Scientific, Moral, and Religious Knowledge II (pp. 267–278 of Audi) Recommended: Moral Epistemology, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |
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| Week 14, April 16-20 (pp. 278 –302 of Audi) | ||
Scientific, Moral, and Religious Knowledge III (pp. 278–289 of Audi) Recommended: The Epistemology of Religion, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |
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Skepticism I (pp. 292–302 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his skepticism readings, and as many of the skepticism readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 15, April 23-27 (pp. 302 –327 of Audi) | ||
Skepticism II (pp. 302–312 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his skepticism readings, and as many of the skepticism readings as you can muster. |
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| Skepticism III (pp. 312–327 of Audi) Recommended: Huemer's introduction to his skepticism readings, and as many of the skepticism readings as you can muster. |
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| Week 16, April 30 - May 4 (pp. 195–205 of Audi) | ||
| Skepticism IV (TBA) Recommended: TBA |
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| Lecture TBA (by Vanessa – Branden's in Amsterdam) | ||
| Week 17, May 7-9 | ||
| Review Session for Final Exam (GSIs – Branden's still in Amsterdam). | ||
Final Exam: Wednesday, May 16, 5 –8pm (room TBA) |
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