Theory of Knowledge
Philosophy 180, section 1
Professor Matt McCormick
Monday, Wednesday 1:30-2:45 AMD 252
Spring 2008
Office Hours:
Wed 11-12, Th 12:00-1:00 and by appointment
Office: Mendocino 3020
Office phone: 278-7372
email:
mccormick@csus.edu
Webpage:
www.csus.edu/indiv/m/mccormickm
Writing Guidelines:
http://www.csus.edu/phil/req/writing.htm
Philosophy Department Office:
Mendocino 3032, 278-6424
Catalog Description: PHIL180. Theory of Knowledge. Examines the concept to knowledge. Representative topics include: the role of sense perception and memory, the importance of certainty, the justification of belief, philosophical skepticism, the concept of truth and the nature of philosophical inquiry. Emphasis is on contemporary formulations. Prerequisite: 6 units in philosophy or instructor permission. 3 units
Required Texts:
The Theory of Knowledge: Classical
and Contemporary Readings. ed.
Louis P. Pojman. Toronto: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003. ISBN:
0-534-55822-4
Pojman, Louis. What Can We Know? An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Toronto: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2001. ISBN: 0-534-52417-6.
The Course:
This course will survey epistemology across several important issues that include:
the nature of knowledge.
the nature of justification
rationality
epistemological duties or the ethics of belief
skepticism
Gettier counterexamples
theories of truth
theories concerning belief
sensory/perceptual states and their relationship to knowledge
foundationalism
coherentism
evidentialism
fallibilism
naturalized theories of knowledge
a priori knowledge
induction
synthetic and analytic truths
This course has several goals.
1) To introduce students to a number of important
historical and contemporary issues and controversies in epistemology.
2) To improve students'
writing skills, textual analysis skills,
and oral discussion/debate skills.
3)
To introduce students to advanced philosophical methods, writing, and tools.
4) To cultivate students' abilities to employ those advanced philosophical
methods, and tools.
These goals will be met and assessed with reading assignments, tests,
vocabulary assessment, quizzes, paper assignments, class discussions,
lectures, and philosophical research.
Assignments: In this course you will write four papers on arguments/articles that we are studying, a reading question set, and one longer research style paper (10-15 pages). The short papers will be mostly be argument reconstructions. All papers will be assessed according to the criteria described in the assignment and the Philosophy Department writing guidelines posted at: www.csus.edu/phil/req/writing.htm. See more information below.
And there will be a mid-term and final exam that will be made up of short answer questions, quote identification, and several essay questions covering the content of the course. Each test will cover half of the course material.
Course Grade: Your final grade will be calculated as follows:
| Grading Structure | Number | Value | Total |
| Short Papers | 4 | 10% | 40% |
| Skepticism Reading Questions | 1 | 5% | 5% |
| Midterm | 1 | 10% | 10% |
| Final Exam | 1 | 10% | 10% |
| Research Paper | 1 | 15% | 15% |
| Attendance and Participation | 10% | ||
| Wiki-Page discussion board | 10% | ||
| 100% |
Late Assignments: Each student may take one extension on a due paper until the next class period. This is the only extension you will have, so use it wisely. You do not need to inform me when you choose to take your extension.
All other late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per day (not per class period.). Assignments turned in after class on the day they are due will be treated as late by one day.
Missed Assignments: Be forewarned: A missed assignment will be entered as a 0 in the grade spreadsheet, and that has a substantial negative impact on your course grade. For example, a skipped assignment worth 10% of the overall grade is equivalent to a one full grade reduction of your course grade. Even an F (55 points) has a less damaging effect on your grade.
Makeup Policy:
There will be no extra credit or make up assignments for any missed
work.
Students
may use the one time extension described above for a due paper in the event of
emergencies.
Grading Guidelines: A detailed explanation of the standards employed in this course to grade assignments and the requirements for different grades can be found at: http://www.csus.edu/phil/req/grading.htm
Attendance:
Class attendance is mandatory. Anyone with
5 or
more unexcused absences will receive a 0 for class attendance and
participation. Everyone is expected to
come to class prepared, having read the assigned materials, and ready to
participate in the class discussions. Everyone who meets
these requirements will receive a full 10% for their class participation
grade. Failure to meet these requirements will result in a
proportional reduction of that grade.
If there are emergencies that force you to miss the course, they may
be excused in some rare cases. You must
notify me that you will be missing class before it occurs.
And I will require evidence in order to excuse the absence(s).
Being Tardy: I take roll at the beginning of class; students who are late will be counted absent and will miss assignments, important information, and as a result, will do poorly in the course. Three tardies count as an absence.
Cheating: No cheating of any sort will be tolerated in this course. All sources in papers must be cited and given appropriate credit. The author of any information from the Internet must be given credit; using such information without indicating the source is stealing someone else's hard work and is immoral. Students are allowed to discuss lectures and even assignments with each other, but they must do their own work. Be cautious of sharing your notes and ideas with someone who did not attend class and did not take notes; that person has much more to gain than you do.
Here is the university policy on academic honesty:
The attempt by a student to cheat on an exam or other academic assignment or to engage in plagiarism is a violation of a fundamental principle of academic honesty and integrity and will not be tolerated in the University. Formal procedures exist for dealing with these cases and penalties will be imposed on students who are found guilty of academic dishonesty. In the event of expulsion, suspension or probation, a notation is made on the student’s transcript. Suspension and probation notations remain on the transcript for the life of the suspension/probation. For information, contact the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
All students will be responsible for reading and following the university honesty, plagiarism, and cheating policies. They are posted on the web at: http://www.csus.edu/admbus/umanual/UMA00150.htm
Intellectual Property Right Policy. The development of websites and businesses that buy students' notes and papers and resell them to other students willing to cheat has made this policy necessary:
I do not give my permission for any materials presented in my course, including but not limited to lectures, lecture notes, assignments, tests, and handouts, to be sold without my explicit written permission. Those materials also may not be given, or otherwise transferred by anyone who is not currently enrolled in my course to anyone who is currently enrolled in my course. Nor can they be given or otherwise transferred to anyone who is currently enrolled in my course to anyone who is not. They may not be used for any commercial purposes without my explicit written permission. Their use is to be educational and confined to use in my class. Anyone who violates these policies is in conflict with university intellectual copyright policy and will be subject to legal action.
Students with Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and require accommodation or
assistance with assignments, tests, attendance, note taking, etc., please see
the instructor early in the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be
made to ensure your full participation in class. Also, you are encouraged to
contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (Lassen Hall) for
additional information regarding services that might be available to you.
Course Schedule: I have included more readings than we can possibly discuss. I will be making some modifications to the reading list by removing some of these, and probably not adding any. Read all the assigned pages for the week unless otherwise instructed in class.
Some of Prof. McCormick's lecture notes and some of the readings will be posted in WebCT: https://online.csus.edu/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct
Week 1 (Jan. 28-Jan. 30) : Introduction. The Basics.
Readings:
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 1: 1-24
Week 2 (Feb. 4-6): Belief, Truth, Justification continued.
Skepticism and the External World
Readings:
Descartes: Global Skepticism and the Quest for Certainty, 22-38.
Hume: Skepticism Regarding the Senses, 39-48.
Week 3 (Feb. 11-13): Skepticism and the External World, continued
Skepticism Reading Questions Due beginning of class, Monday: Skepticism Reading Questions (These questions cover the Week 2-4 readings on Descartes, Hume, Moore, Putnam, and Carnap)
Readings:
Moore: A Defense of Common Sense, 49-55.
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 2: The Skeptical Tradition, 26-36.
Week 4 (Feb. 18-20): Skepticism continued.
First Paper Assignment: Putnam and Carnap due Monday, Feb. 18 at the beginning of class. The papers concern the readings linked below.
Readings:
Putnam, Brains in a Vat. This is a web link--you won't find this reading in the book.
Carnap, Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology This is a web link--you won't find this reading in the book.
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 3: Modern Skepticism, 37-63.
Week 5 (Feb. 25-Feb. 27): Perception: Our Knowledge of the External World
Readings:
Locke, 75-87.
Berkeley, 88-95
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 4: Perception: Our Knowledge of the External World, 64-79
Week 6 (March 3-5): The Analysis of Knowledge: The Gettier Problem
Second Paper Assignment: The Gettier Problem due Monday, March 3 at the beginning of class.
Readings:
Gettier, 125-126.
Feldman, 127-128
Pojman, What Can We Know?
Chapter 5: What is Knowledge? An Analysis, 80-98
Week 7 (March 10-12): Gettier Problem continued.
Readings:
Goldman, 129-137.
Lehrer, 138-141.
Week 8 (March 17 and 19): Theories of Justification: Foundationalism and Coherentism
Readings:
Chisholm, 163-173
Audi, 174-181.
Bonjour, 182-193
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 6, 99-114.
Week 9 (March 24 and 26): Coherentism
Readings:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Coherentist Theories of Justification
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 7, 115-133
Midterm, Wed. March 26 in class.
Spring Break: March 31-April 4
Week 10 (April 7 and 9): Post-Gettier Epistemology
Third Paper Assignment: Bishop and Trout: Problems with SAE due Monday, April 7 at the beginning of class.
Readings:
Bishop and Trout, handout from Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment
"The Pathologies of Standard Analytic Epistemology."
Responses: A Review by Jonathan Weinberg.
Week 11 (April 14-16): Theories of Justification: Externalism and Internalism
Readings:
Goldman, 260-272
Lehrer, 273-286
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 8 and 10, 134-163, 185-197.
Week 12 (April 21 and 23): Externalism and Internalism continued.
Readings:
Quine, 287-295
Conee and Feldman, 296-309
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 8 and 10, 134-163, 185-197.
Nammour Symposium, Tuesday April 22 and 23. Our class will meet there on Wednesday. Details TBA
Week 13- (April 28 and 30): Teleological Accounts of Justification
Fourth Paper Assignment: Churchland On Reliabilism or Plantinga on Warrant due Monday, May 5 at the beginning of class.
Readings:
Churchland, "What Happens to Reliabilism When It Is Liberated from the Propositional Attitudes?" in WebCT "Some Research Paper Articles" Folder.
Selections from Plantinga's Warrant and Proper Function are available in WebCT.
Plantinga, "Is Belief in God Properly Basic?" Must have saclink id and login for library access to JSTOR.
Review of Plantinga: Evan Fales, in WebCT "Plantinga Readings" folder
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 9, 164-184
Week 14- (May 5 and 7): A priori Knowledge
Readings:
Kant, 370-377
Maddy, Penelope. "Naturalism and the A Priori." http://www.lps.uci.edu/home/fac-staff/faculty/maddy/NAP.pdf
Ayer, 378-384
Quine, 391-402
Pojman, What Can We Know? Chapter 12, 205-227.
Research Paper:
There are instructions and a list of possible topics for the research paper here: Theory of Knowledge Term Paper
I strongly encourage you to give me a proposal, outline, or at least have a discussion with me in office hours or on email about the topic of your paper. Many topics are not suitable and your grade will benefit from some guidance that I can give.
Final Paper due Friday, May 9 th, by 5:00. Submit by email: mccormick@csus.edu It must be in a Word doc format.
Week 15- (May 12 and 14) Rationality
Readings:
Stich, "Could Man Be An Irrational Animal?" Synthese 64: 115-135. On reserve.
Wason Selection Tasks: http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/socex/wason.htm
Feldman, "Rationality, Reliability, and Natural Selection." Philosophy of Science, 55 (1988) pp. 218-227. On reserve.
Review and Summation.
Final Exam: Monday, May 19th 12:45-2:45 in class.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-
Assignments:
Wikispaces Discussion Board:
All students are required to make regular, constructive, and considered contributions to our discussion board within Wikispaces. The address is:
http://phil180epistemology.wikispaces.com/
Getting started: Go to that address. Create an identity. In order to get credit for your contributions and so that the rest of the class can identify you, you must use your full name as your identity with no spaces. So mine is: MattMcCormick. If your name's already taken, add "Phil180" to the end of it.
Posting questions, comments, and ideas: Under the discussion tab, there will be different threads of conversation with questions and comments from Prof. McCormick and other students. Choose topics and questions that you find interesting and make a post, or ask new questions and start a thread of your own.
Grading: Students who make frequent, reflective, and helpful posts (at least 12 for the semester) will receive a full 10% for this portion of the grade. Lesser contributions will be graded proportionally lower. Contributions will be evaluated on the basis of these criteria:
Paper Assignments: (also linked in the weekly schedule above)
Short Papers:Guidelines and instructions for writing the short argument summaries are at: Theory of Knowledge Short Papers
Professor Mayes' How to Analyze a Philosophical Essay is also a good guide to what I am looking for on these assignments.
Research Paper:
There are instructions and a list of possible topics for the research paper here: Theory of Knowledge Term Paper
I strongly encourage you to give me a proposal, outline, or at least have a discussion with me in office hours or on email about the topic of your paper. Many topics are not suitable and your grade will benefit from some guidance that I can give.