belief, truth, and knowledge

course #: V83.0076-001

overview: This course will focus upon some of the central questions in
epistemology including:

    What is knowledge, or what is it to know something?

What is it for a belief to be justified?

Can we have knowledge, or justified beliefs, about the external
    world?

Can inductive reasoning justify our beliefs?

Can we have knowledge, or justified beliefs, without experience?

Does truth or rationality matter?

time: Mondays-Thursdays, 3:30-5:05pm (June 30-August 7)

place: 3^rd floor seminar room, Dept. of Philosophy, 5 Washington Place

Because of construction on the 3^rd floor of the Dept. of
Philosophy during weeks 3-5, class will be held at Room 409,
Silver Center during that time

website: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mjr318/btk08/

instructor: Mike Raven (raven@nyu.edu)

office: Room 607, Dept. of Philosophy, 5 Washington Place

office hours:    Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:05pm-6:05pm.

assignments: Participation, as well as written work: five short papers (due on
the Mondays of weeks 2-6) and a final exam.

late policy: No late work; no exceptions.

evaluation: You pass the course only if you do the required work. Papers,
the exam, and participation count proportionally.

text: Knowledge: Readings in Contemporary Epistemology, eds.
Sven Bernecker & Fred Dretske, Oxford. (bd)

                              Readings not in BD will be distributed as handouts in class.

Week 1 (June 30-July 3).  What is knowledge, or what is it to know
                                something?

Introduction  [notes]

Plato Theaetetus (handout)  [notes]

Gettier “Is justified true belief knowledge?” (bd2)  [notes]

Lehrer & Paxson, Jr. “Knowledge: undefeated justified true belief” (bd5)  [notes]

Week 2 (July 7-10).  What is it for a belief to be justified?

* Paper 1 due Monday July 7 *  [guidelines]

Goldman “Discrimination and perceptual knowledge” (bd8)  [notes]

Foley “What’s wrong with reliabilism?” (bd13)  [notes]

BonJour “Externalist theories of empirical knowledge” (bd14)  [notes]

Week 3 (July 14-17).  Can we have knowledge, or justified beliefs,
                                        about the external world?

        * Paper 2 due Monday July 14 *  [guidelines]

Descartes First Meditation (HANDOUT)  [notes]

Nozick “Knowledge and scepticism” (bd25)  [notes]

Unger “A defense of skepticism” (bd23)  [notes]

Cohen “Skepticism and everyday knowledge attributions” (handout)  [notes]

Week 4 (July 21-24).  Can inductive reasoning justify our beliefs?

        * Paper 3 due Monday July 21 *  [guidelines]

Hume An enquiry concerning human understanding (handout)  [notes]

Russell “On induction” (bd37)  [notes]

Reichenbach “The pragmatic justification of induction” (bd38)  [notes]

Van Cleve “Reliability, justification, and the problem of induction” (handout)  [notes]

Week 5 (July 28-31).  Can we have knowledge, or justified beliefs,
                                        without experience?

        * Paper 4 due Monday July 28 *  [guidelines]

Ayer Language, truth, and logic - Chapter IV (handout)  [notes]

Quine "Two dogmas of empiricism" (handout)  [notes]

Kripke “A priori knowledge, necessity, and contingency” (bd40)  [notes]

Week 6 (August 4-7).  Does truth or rationality matter?

        * Paper 5 due Monday August 4 *  [guidelines]

Stich “Do we really care whether our beliefs are true?” (handout)  [notes]

Kelly “Epistemic rationality as instrumental rationality: a critique” (handout)  [notes]

       * Final exam Thursday August 7 *  [study guide]