PHIL 230.001 – Experience and Reality

Instructor: Keshav Singh. This course meets MWF 10:10 – 11:00 a.m. in PH 385.

This course is an introduction to epistemology. Epistemology, defined narrowly, is the study of knowledge and justified belief. Traditional epistemological questions that will discussed in this course include the following: What is knowledge, and what does it take to have it? What is justified belief, and what makes a belief justified? We will also discuss some other questions related to knowledge, belief and justification that arise at the intersection of epistemology and other areas such as metaphysics, philosophy of mind and philosophy of action. Such questions include the following: What are beliefs? Can we choose what to believe like we choose how to act? What is the relationship between belief and action more generally?