Philosophy 122

The theory of knowledge or epistemology is concerned with questions such as: How is knowledge possible? What forms of knowledge are there? Can “knowledge” be defined? Can we know that we know anything whatsoever? In this course we will set out from a variety of skeptical problems, that is, problems resulting in paradoxes, which seem to prove that we cannot know anything. We will then discuss various responses to skeptical paradoxes. In the last part of the course, we will concentrate on some prominent analyses of “knowledge” and discuss whether an analysis of “knowledge” is feasible. In this context, we will also look at various contemporary responses to the problem of justification, which identifies justification as the problematic ingredient in our understanding of knowledge.

Texts: There will be a reader with all the texts discussed in the lecture course. Recommended Introduction: Duncan Pritchard: What is This Thing Called Knowledge? Routledge, 2nd Edition 2009.