Epistemology

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course explores topics, questions and problems in epistemology, otherwise known as the theory of knowledge. Traditional epistemology has focused on questions regarding the nature, scope and value of knowledge. These questions include: What is knowledge?; What can we know (and not know)?; What are the sources of knowledge?; Why is knowledge more valuable than opinion?; What constitutes good (or poor) evidence?; What makes a belief rational or reasonable (or irrational or unreasonable)? Contemporary epistemology expands on the questions and methodologies of traditional epistemology in ways that enrich the field. Topics include: epistemic communities; relations between epistemic status and political status; epistemic dependence on other persons; trust and testimony; intellectual authority; social epistemology; moral epistemology; religious epistemology.