PHIL 140.001 – Knowledge and Society

Instructor: Aliosha Barranco Lopez. This course meets TR 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. via mostly asynchronous remote (RM) instruction.

As the beneficiaries of recent technological developments, we enjoy access to more information than ever before, and we also enjoy the power to amplify and add to this body of information.  But with so many outlets sharing contradictory reports and advice, what sources should you trust? When we have formed an opinion about a subject matter, when, if ever, is it responsible to share it, and with whom? Should we even form opinions about matters in which we enjoy no expertise? Or should we defer completely to the opinion of those who are experts? Should realizing that there is widespread disagreement about certain matters like politics or religion make us less confident about our own views concerning those matters?

The goal of this course is to provide students with no previous background in philosophy with at least some of the fundamental philosophical tools necessary to think more deeply about the questions listed above.