DAY 29 to DAY 32 March 22 - 25 Epistemology

While I'm away in the Alps until Friday, you should get to work on completing your Q & A for Monday/Tuesday seminars.  In addition you can work on the new Introduction to Epistemology stuff as follows:

Introduction to Epistemology
EPISTEMOLOGY is the area of Philosophy that deals with the study of knowledge: how we know things, what knowledge is, reliability of evidence, sources of evidence, how we acquire knowledge, sensory information and direct vs. indirect evidence.

UNIT EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this unit you will be able to:
• identify the main questions, concepts, and theories of epistemology
• evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the responses to some of the main questions of metaphysics defended by some major philosophers and schools of epistemology, and defend those responses
• demonstrate the relevance of epistemological questions and theories to everyday life
• illustrate how various epistemological theories apply to other subject areas

UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit introduces you to the fundamental questions of Epistemology and discusses many of the answers that epistemologists have developed.  We will use the following chapters in your textbook:

Chapter 9, “Introducing Epistemology,” examines what epistemology is and provides a brief overview of the history of epistemology, then focuses on knowledge and knowing. It introduces rationalism and empiricism, discusses various conditions for knowing, and examines various kinds of knowledge.

Chapter 10, “Theories and Methods of Epistemology,” extends the discussion of knowledge and knowing by examining rationalism and empiricism in greater depth. It also introduces theories that to bridge the gap between rationalism and empiricism and summarizes contemporary thinking about knowledge.

Chapter 11, “Knowledge and Truth,” examines the links between truth and knowledge and investigates some of the difficulties of defining truth.

Step 1:  Go to Epistemology Intro.   Please read this page and take notes on what you think are the most important parts.  This will provide you with a good framework of topics, theories and "isms" for Epistemology.

Step 2:  Add to your note above or make a new one by "doing" and then commenting on your own illusions in this Optical Illusions and Acquiring Knowledge sheet.

Step 3:  Using p. 196, Question 1 as a guide, read and take notes on Chapter 9 of the text.

Step 4:  Watch this short Bill Nye video on YouTube.

You will end up taking notes on all three of the chapters listed above so if you can, start note-taking this week.