24.211
Theory of Knowledge
Study of problems concerning our concept of knowledge, our knowledge of the past, our knowledge of the thoughts and feelings of ourselves and others, and our knowledge of the existence and properties of physical objects in our immediate environment. Enrollment may be limited; preference to Course 24 majors and minors.
Spring 2014
Topics
- The Skeptical Problem
- What is Knowledge?
- Skepticism and Common Sense
- The Closure of Knowledge
- Sensitivity and Safety
- Dogmatism and Bootstrapping
- Default Entitlement
- Inference to the Best Explanation
- Knowledge and Certainty
- Contextualism and Practical Interests
- The Lottery Paradox, Part 1
- The Lottery Paradox, Part 2 Guest lecturer: Said Saillant
- The Lottery Paradox, Part 3 Guest lecturer: Ian Wells
- Semantic Externalism
Readings
- Moore, G. E. “Proof of an External World.” Chapter 9 in Selected Writings . Edited by Thomas Baldwin. Routledge, 1993. ISBN: 9780415098533.
- Stroud, Barry. “The Problem of the External World.” Chapter 1 in The Significance of Philosophical Skepticism . Oxford University Press, 1984. ISBN: 9780198247616.
- Vogel, Jonathan. “The Refutation of Skepticism.” In Contemporary Debates in Epistemology . 2nd ed. Edited by Matthias Steup, John Turri, and Ernest Sosa. Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. ISBN: 9780470672099.
- Hawthorne, John. Knowledge and Lotteries . Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780199287130.
- ———. “Brains in a Vat.” Chapter 27 in Knowledge: Readings in Contemporary Epistemology . Edited by Sven Bernecker and Fred Dretske. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780198752615.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: One philosophy subject U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2014
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.