According to Richard Rorty, modern philosophy has been dominated by the image of the mind as a mirror that reflects reality; knowledge, in this image, is concerned with the accuracy of these reflections. Philosophers therefore believed that it was their task to discover and assess methods of making these reflections as accurate as possible, and to judge other areas of culture from the tribunal of pure reason that they thus erected.
Using contemporary philosophy of mind, Rorty attacks the notion of the mind as a mirror; using contemporary epistemology, especially Quine’s criticism of the analytic-synthetic distinction and Sellars’ criticism of “the myth of the given”, he attacks the idea that a theory of knowledge is even possible. Rorty believes that this shows that traditional philosophy has become impossible, and that philosophers should instead follow in the footsteps of Dewey, Wittgenstein and Heidegger and continue the conversation that constitutes our culture.
In this seminar, we will closely study the texts of Sellars and Rorty. Both the philosophical details that underlie their claims and the strong meta-philosophical conclusions that Rorty draws from them will receive ample scrutiny.
Onderwijsvorm
Seminar
Toetsing
Active participation, preparation, in-class presentation and term paper
Literatuur
*Wilfrid Sellars, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind. Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0674251555 (pbk). *Richard Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton University Press, 1981. ISBN 0691020167 (pbk).
Toegangseisen
Epistemologie en wetenschapsfilosofie I and II (B1), Metafysica (B1) and Cognitiefilosofie (B2)
Rooster
Aanmelden
Please register for this course via U-twist. See registration procedure
Informatie
drs. L.C. de Bruin (l.c.de.bruin@let.leidenuniv.nl)
drs. V.A. Gijsbers (v.gijsbers@let.leidenuniv.nl)
Opmerkingen
Studiepad: Epistemologie & Wetenschapsfilosofie