Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to:
Students enrolled in the BA programme Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives
International pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement, and for whom this course is part of their programme.
Description
Epistemology is the philosophical discipline concerned with knowledge. What exactly is knowledge? What does knowledge have to do with truth, with certainty, with justification, with rationality? Is knowledge even possible, do we have any? How does perception bring us into epistemic contact with the world? Are there other sources of knowledge besides perception, and if so which ones? These are the kinds of questions we will think about in this course.
We will discuss classic themes from analytic epistemology (coherentism versus foundationalism, internalism versus externalism, Gettier problems, skepticism, and so on) but also enter into more recent debates about, for example, perception, testimony and evidence.
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to familiarize students with both the classic themes of (analytical) epistemology and the most important contemporary debates.
The student who has successfully completed the course has knowledge of:
the classic themes and concepts from (analytic) epistemology;
the most important contemporary epistemological debates and theories.
The student who has successfully completed the course is able to:
clearly explain the central ideas of modern epistemology;
take a nuanced and well-founded position on philosophical issues about knowledge.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Tutorials
Assessment method
Assessment
- Written examinations with closed and short open questions
The assessment will be based on two short written exams. The midterm exam covers the material from the first half of the course, the final exam covers the material from the second half of the course.
Weighting
Midterm: 50%
Final: 50%
Sufficient attendance at lectures and preparation of texts and assignments is a necessary condition for obtaining a final grade for the course.
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
The resit consists of one exam that covers the entire course material, in the form of a written exam. The grade for this resit replaces all previously obtained partial grades and determines 100% of the final grade. It is not possible to resit only one of the two partial exams. Sufficient attendance at lectures and tutorials is a condition for participation in the resit.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The reading material will consist of papers and chapters written by leading (often contemporary, theoretical) philosophers, which must be read carefully for the relevant lectures and seminars. The reading material will be made available via Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the at the right hand side of the page.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.