| Title: | Knowledge and Skepticism |
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| Course Section Number: | PHI-269-01 |
| Department: | Philosophy |
| Description: | Here are some things that I take myself to know. The world around me is real, and not merely a simulation. The universe is billions of years old, and did not come into existence five minutes ago. Antarctica is a continent, but the Arctic is not. There are 215 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. The sun will rise tomorrow. But how do I know those things? What reliable information can I really have about the world around me? These questions are made particularly pressing by the existence of philosophical skepticism, according to which it is impossible for us to know what the world around us is actually like. Despite skepticism's absurd appearance, it is of enduring interest because of the power of the arguments in favor of it. Thus, to study skepticism, we will direct most of our attention to the careful study of arguments. The arguments we study will come from classic and contemporary philosophical works, and we will study them by using software called MindMup to map their structure. This will put us in a position to understand and evaluate these skeptical arguments, with an eye toward determining how we can have knowledge of the world around us. |
| Credits: | 1.00 |
| Start Date: | August 23, 2023 |
| End Date: | December 16, 2023 |
| Meeting Information: |
08/24/2023-12/14/2023 Lecture Tuesday, Thursday 02:40PM - 03:55PM, Center Hall, Room 300
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| Faculty: | Carlson, Matthew |
Course Status
| Section Name/Title | Status | Dept. | Capacity |
Enrolled/ Available/ Waitlist |
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