Epistemology

February 13 – March 6

Focusing on theories of truth, knowledge, and faith
Author
Affiliation

Christopher L. Holland

Saint Louis University

Begins

February 13, 2025

Updated

April 10, 2025

1 Readings and Videos

Reading and Video Schedule
Due Readings and Videos
Th, Feb 13 Reading: Plato, Republic 509d–518d and De Cruz, Philosophy Illustrated, pp. 127–130
Video: Nagel, “Introduction to Theory of Knowledge”
Tu, Feb 18 Reading: Descartes, Meditations pp. 23–47 and De Cruz, Philosophy Illustrated, pp. 79–86, 163–166
Video: Nagel, “The Problem of Skepticism”
Th, Feb 20 Reading: GE Moore “Proof of an External World” and excerpts from David Chalmers’s Reality+.
Videos: Nagel, “Responses to Skepticism” and Nagel, “New Responses to Skepticism”
Tu, Feb 25 Reading: Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” and De Cruz, Philosophy Illustrated, pp. 65–68
Videos: Analyzing Knowledge #1, #2, #3, and #4
Th, Feb 27 Reading: De Cruz, Philosophy Illustrated, pp. 175–177, Varghese, preface to There Is a God, xi–xv, and Flew, There Is a God, pp. 42–48.
Tu, Mar 4 Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiæ I, question 1, articles 1–2, 4, 6–8 and Swinburne, Faith and Reason, pp. 137–147.
Th, Mar 6 Argument Evaluation Prep: Russell, “Truth and Falsehood,” pp. 69–75

2 Notes and Presentations

3 Assignments

Assignment Schedule
Available Due Assignment
Tu, Mar 4 Sat, Mar 8 Wed, Mar 19 Self-Assessment Quiz 4
In-class Th, Mar 6 Argument Evaluation 2

References

Aquinas. (1920) 2017. The Summa Theologiæ of St. Thomas Aquinas. Edited by Kevin Knight. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. 2nd ed. New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/summa/.
Arlig, Andrew, and Bilal Ibrahim. 2022. “Al-Ghazālī’s Skeptical Ruminations, by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Al-Ghzālī.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 163–66. New York: Oxford University Press.
Carman, Taylor. 2022. “Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 127–30. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chalmers, David J. 2022. Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy. Kindle. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Descartes, René. (1614) 2013. Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies: A Latin–English Edition. Edited and translated by John Cottingham. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Epistemology: Three Responses to Skepticism. 2016. Wireless Philosophy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xehTcQeqDWs.
Flew, Antony. 2007. There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. New York: HarperOne.
Gettier, Edmund L. 1963. “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” Analysis 23 (6): 121–23. https://doi.org/10.2307/3326922.
Goodnick, Liz. 2022. “The Missing Shade of Blue, by David Hume.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 79–82. New York: Oxford University Press.
Littlejohn, Clayton. 2022. “Fake Barn Country, by Carl Ginet, Featured in Alvin Goldman.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 65–68. New York: Oxford University Press.
Moore, G. E. (1939) 1959. “Proof of an External World.” In Philosophical Papers, 127–50. London: George Allenn and Unwin.
Nagel, Jennifer. 2016a. “Epistemology: 1. Introduction to Theory of Knowledge.” Wireless Philosophy. February 12, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/introduction-to-theory-of-knowledge/.
———. 2016b. “Epistemology: 2. The Problem of Skepticism.” Wireless Philosophy. February 17, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/the-problem-of-skepticism/.
———. 2016c. “Epistemology: 3. Three Responses to Skepticism.” Wireless Philosophy. February 19, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/three-responses-to-skepticism/.
———. 2016d. “Epistemology: 4. New Responses to Skepticism.” Wireless Philosophy. February 26, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/new-responses-to-skepticism/.
———. 2016e. “Epistemology: 6. Analyzing Knowledge: 2. No-False-Lemma and No-Defeater Approaches.” Wireless Philosophy. March 7, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/analyzing-knowledge-part-2-no-false-lemma-and-no-defeater-approaches/.
———. 2016f. “Epistemology: 7. Analyzing Knowledge: 3. Causal and Reliabilist Theories.” Wireless Philosophy. March 11, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/analyzing-knowledge-part-3-causal-and-reliabilist-theories/.
———. 2016g. “Epistemology: 5. Analyzing Knowledge: 1. The Gettier Problem.” Wireless Philosophy. April 16, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/analyzing-knowledge-part-1-the-gettier-problem/.
Pascal, Blaise. (1958) 2006. Pensées. Translated by W. F. Trotter. New York: E. P. Dutton; Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18269.
Plato. 2017. Euthyphro. Apology. Crito. Phaedo. Edited and translated by Christopher Emlyn-Jones and William Preddy. Loeb Classical Library 36. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL036/2017/volume.xml.
Potter, Kelli D. 2022. “The Invisible Gardener, by John Wisdom.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 175–77. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pynn, Geoff. 2016a. “Epistemology: 8. Analyzing Knowledge: 4. Tracking Theories.” Wireless Philosophy. March 18, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/analyzing-knowledge-part-4-tracking-theories/.
———. 2016b. “Epistemology: 10. Virtue Epistemology.” Wireless Philosophy. August 26, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/virtue-epistemology/.
———. 2016c. “Epistemology: 11. Contextualism.” Wireless Philosophy. October 14, 2016. https://www.wi-phi.com/videos/contextualism/.
Schwenkler, John. 2022. “The Cube and the Sphere (Molyneux’s Question), Address by John Locke.” In Philosophy Illustrated, edited by Helen De Cruz, 83–86. New York: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, Richard. 2005. Faith and Reason. 2nd ed. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press.
Varghese, Roy Abraham. 2007. “Preface.” In There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind, by Antony Flew, vii–xxiv. New York: HarperOne.