geoff pynn

Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
Northern Illinois University
g pynn @ niu . edu

fall 2011
philosophy 311: problems of knowledge

This is an upper-level undergraduate course in epistemology. For more details, see the syllabus:

Schedule
Readings will be discussed on the date they are listed, so you should read them before class on that date.

8/23
Introduction.

8/25
The JTB Analysis.
Reading:
Feldman, chs. 2-3

8/30
Problems for JTB.
Reading:
Edmund Gettier, 'Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?'
Richard Feldman, 'An Alleged Defect in Gettier Counter-Examples'
Keith Lehrer and Thomas Paxson, 'Knowledge: Undefeated Justified True Belief' (read from p. 227 (starting with the paragraph that begins "Roderick Chisholm has pointed out...") to the end of p. 231)

9/1
No new reading.

9/6
Evidentialism.
Feldman, ch. 4

9/8
Evidentialism.
Finish Feldman, ch. 4
Earl Conee and Richard Feldman, 'Evidentialism'

9/13
Foundationalism vs. coherentism
James Pryor, 'There Is Immediate Justification'

9/22
Reliabilism
Feldman, ch. 90-99

9/27
Reliabilism
Alvin Goldman, 'What Is Justified Belief?'

9/29
Causal Theory of Knowledge
Feldman, p. 81-90
Alvin Goldman, 'Discrimination and Perceptual Knowledge'

10/4
Tracking Theories
Feldman, p. 86-90
Robert Nozick, selection from Philosophical Explorations, 'Knowledge'

10/12
Skeptical Arguments
Feldman, pp. 108-119

10/14
The Argument from Ignorance

10/18
Skeptical Arguments; Contextualism
Keith DeRose, 'Contextualism: An Explantion And Defense'

10/20
The Argument from Uncertainty
Peter Unger, 'A Defense of Skepticism'

10/25
Putnam's Proof

11/1
Fallibilism
Stewart Cohen, 'How To Be A Fallibilist'

11/8
Disagreement

11/15
Disagreement

11/17
TEST 2
Test information
PAPER PROPOSALS DUE
Paper information

11/22
Conspiracy Theories
Brian Keeley, 'Of Conspiracy Theories'