Print out the syllabus (PDF format).
Introduction
1/21 what is epistemology? Preliminaries: belief, propositions, truth.
 
Two Challenges
 
the skeptical challenge

3

 Descartes, Meditation I
Stroud, “Understanding human knowledge in general” (B&D ch. 22)
Unger, “A defense of skepticism” (B&D ch. 23)
 
Gettier’s challenge

2

Gettier, “Is justified true belief knowledge?” (B&D ch.2)
Feldman, “An alleged defect in Gettier counter-examples” (B&D ch. 3)
(optional) Ayer, “Knowing as having the right to be sure” (B&D ch. 1)

 
responses to challenges

2

Lehrer & Paxson, “Knowledge: undefeated justified true belief” (B&D ch. 5)
Goldman, “A causal theory of knowing” (B&D ch. 4)

2

 Nozick, “Knowledge and skepticism” (B&D ch. 25)

1

 Goldman, “Discrimination and perceptual knowledge” (B&D ch. 8)
(optional) Armstrong, “The thermometer model of knowledge” (B&D ch. 7)
(optional) Stine, “Skepticism, relevant alternatives, and deductive closure” (Philosophical Studies, 1978)
 
The Structure of Knowledge and Justification
 

internalism and externalism
2 review Stroud, “Understanding human knowledge in general,” pp. 316–22, esp. 319–20
BonJour, “Externalist theories of empirical knowledge” (B&D ch. 14)
(optional) Alston, “An internalist externalism” (B&D ch. 16)
first writing assignment due

1

Foley, “What’s wrong with reliabilism?” (B&D ch. 13)
(optional) Chisholm, “The indispensibility of internal justification” (B&D ch. 10)
(optional) Bach, “A rationale for reliabilism” (B&D ch. 15)

contextualism and invariantism

2

Lewis, “Elusive knowledge” (B&D ch. 26)
Schiffer, “Contextualist solutions to scepticism” (Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1996: 317-333)
(optional) DeRose, “Contextualism: an explanation and defense” (The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology, 1998, J. Greco and E. Sosa, eds.)
 

foundationalism and coherentism

2

 Price, “The given” (B&D ch. 17)
(optional) Chisholm, “The directly evident” (B&D ch. 18)
(optional) Sellars, “Does empirical knowledge have a foundation?” (B&D ch. 19)

1

BonJour, “The elements of coherentism” (B&D ch. 11)
(optional) Lehrer, “The coherence theory of knowledge” (B&D ch. 12)
 
Objectivity

1

 Paul Boghossian, selections from forthcoming book
second writing assignment due
 
Additional Topics

2


self-knowledge
modal knowledge
testimonial knowledge
 
review (bring questions)
final exam Wednesday May 5, 10 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. (as per University schedule)
 
time permitting: self knowledge

Burge, “Individualism and self-knowledge” (B&D ch. 32)
Boghossian, “Content and self-knowlege” (B&D ch. 33)
Davies, TBA
 
time permitting: modal knowlege
Kripke, “A priori knowledge, necessity, and contingency” (B&D ch. 40)
Van Inwagen, “Modal epistemology” (Philosophical Studies, 1998: 67–84)
(optional) Yablo, “Is conceivability a guide to possibility?” (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 1993)