Ateneo - UPO

What are knowledge and justification justification? What are the main sources of knowledge and epistemic justification Do we really know anything? Maybe we live in a simulation and know nothing. The course will focus on the debate in contemporary analytic philosophy around questions of this kind.

The textbooks are the same for both attending and non-attending students:

1) Lemos N. (2020). An introduction to theory of knowledge. SECOND EDITION. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2) Lecturer's handouts available on DIR.

The fundamental educational objective of the course is to know the main themes of contemporary analytical epistemology, with particular attention to the theories of the nature, structure, origin and extension of knowledge and epistemic justification.

A more advanced training objective is to be able to argue for or against the theories that will be the subject of the course, mastering the technical details and indicating their strengths and weaknesses.

No prior knowledge of the course topics is required. The course is in English, so a good knowledge of this language is essential.

Lectures including some interactive participation.

Students with physical disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs can request specific services and tools through Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, by consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted Staff di Ateneo, can refer to the course coordinator to define special exam modalities.

Oral exam of a maximum duration of 30 minutes. Attending students can nevertheless replace the oral exam with an essay. The exam (oral or written) is aimed at verifying the achievement of the Educational Objectives and the Expected Learning Outcomes. The evaluation will be based for 30% on the learning of the notions covered in the course, for 30% on the autonomy of critical judgment, for 20% on the clarity of exposition and for 20% on the mastery of scientific terminology. For honours, the ability to establish original and rigorous connections between the topics of the course is required.

These are the main topics of the course (we might however slightly deviate from this programme depending on the specific interests of the students who attend the course).

1: Introduction to Epistemology (essential notions)

2: The Nature of Knowledge and the Gettier Problem

3: Foundationalism on Epistemic Justification

4: Coherentism on Epistemic Justification

5: Foundationalism versus Coherentism

6: Epistemic Internalism and Externalism

7: Naturalised Epistemology and Reliabilism

8: A Priori Justification

8: Skepticism

9: Epistemic Sources: Perception, Memory, and Reasoning

9: Introduction to Social Epistemology (essential notions)

At a basic level, the expected learning outcomes are the following:

(1. Knowledge and ability to understand) familiarity with the key notions and arguments of contemporary analytic epistemology;

(2. Applied knowledge and ability to understand) identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the theories and arguments proposed;

(3. Independent judgment) development of reasoned opinions on the topics of the course;

(4. Communication skills) ability to clearly illustrate the main lines of the contemporary debate;

(5. Learning skills) independent exploration of basic themes of contemporary epistemological research.

At an advanced level, the expected learning outcomes are the following:

(1. Knowledge and ability to understand) knowledge and understanding of the technical details of contemporary analytic epistemology;

(2. Applied knowledge and ability to understand) ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the technical details in the analysis of the main questions posed by contemporary analytic epistemology;

(3. Independent judgment) ability to use advanced technical notions in developing reasoned opinions on the topics of the course;

(4. Communication skills) ability to clearly illustrate technical details even to those who are not familiar with contemporary analytic epistemology;

(5. Learning skills) ability to independently explore some technical aspects of the contemporary debate.