Epistemology
Faculty: Creston Davis, PhD
Prerequisites: Enrolled at GCAS Researcher, Subscriber, MA Student (for Credit)
Format: Live discussions on-line
Day: Saturdays Feb 4, 11, 18, 25
Time: 1 PM New York time
Term: Fall, 2022
Level: Year 1 MA
Credits: 3
Guest Speakers: Lee McIntyre and Ali Hasan
Description: This course concerns the theory of knowledge-- epistemology in both the analytic and psychological-social sense.
This course will carefully examine the history of ‘Justified True Belief’ (JTB) from the ancient Athenian context through the middle ages, the European Enlightenment, and up through the postmodern turn and “Post-Truth” in the 20th century. As we examine each historical epoch we will examine how and why beliefs were acquired, held, justified, and rejected. Then we will compare and contrast the different historical epochs vis-a-vis and attempt to make some authoritative claims about the nature of beliefs and truth.
Of particular interest will be the social dynamic within the theory of knowledge from the psychological and sociological perspectives. We will also examine how knowledge is shaped by social actors, campaigns, and institutions who bend or compromise basic epistemological rules in order to create outcomes some of which may be socially damaging.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
To critically understand the contours of Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge) and its historical development.
To understand the relationship between knowledge and belief
To understand the dangers of post-truth and relativism
To develop and deploy advanced critical understandings of justifying transcendent truth-claims and their justification (epistemological, social, and existential).
Required Texts:
Jana Bacevic (2019) “Knowing Neoliberalism”, Social Epistemology, 33:4, 380-392, DOI: 10.1080/02691728.2019.1638990
McIntyre, Lee Post-Truth, The MIT Press, 2018
Moser, Paul. K, et al. The Theory of Knowledge: A Thematic Introduction (1st Edition), Oxford University Press, 1997.
Hasan, Ali, A Critical Introduction to the Epistemology of Perception (London: Bloomsbury, 2017).
Primož Krašovec, “Neoliberal epistemology – from the impossibility of knowing to human capital” FILOZOFIJA I DRUŠTVO XXIV (4), 2013.
Assessments:
The student will be assessed in all aspects of this course through the following means:
Presentation [10% of total Grade]
Weekly Paper Submission of 400 words, but no more than 1,000 [20%]
Participation [In the live discussion sections, or in the forum if unable to attend the discussion live] [20%]
Research Paper Examination 3,000 word academic research paper [50%]