QUESTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE - 2nd semester
Code
722031046
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Filosofia
Credits
10
Teacher in charge
Nuno Carlos Venturinha
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
- To enhance the understanding of the philosophy of knowledge’s problems;
- To get information concerning the main guidelines of some of the contemporary epistemological theories;
- To compare recent problematics with traditional topics related to the field;
- To conceive a consistent answer to the philosophical question concerning the nature and the possibility of knowledge.
Prerequisites
none
Subject matter
Description of situations
Since the time of Aristotle man has been characterized as a situated being. Every single moment in our lives is already given within the framework of a specific context in the midst of which we understand ourselves and what surrounds us. Epistemic contextualism has received much attention in contemporary epistemology, promising to resolve a number of issues that classic epistemological approaches have been unable to deal with. In particular, a contextualist view opens the way to an understanding of those cognitive processes that require situational information to be fully grasped. However, contextualism poses serious difficulties in regard to epistemic invariance, requiring a sophisticated account of what may and may not vary, both from a personal and from an interpersonal point of view. The seminar shall explore various themes, discussed by different contemporary authors.
Bibliography
BRADY, M. & PRITCHARD, D. (2005). Epistemological Contextualism: Problems and Prospects. The Philosophical Quarterly 55(219): 161-71.
COHEN, S. (1986). Knowledge and Context. The Journal of Philosophy 83(10): 574-83.
COHEN, S. (1987). Knowledge, Context, and Social Standards. Synthese 73(1): 3-26.
DeROSE, K. (2009). The Case for Contextualism: Knowledge, Skepticism, and Context, Vol. 1. Oxford: OUP.
GRECO, J. (2008). What’s Wrong with Contextualism? The Philosophical Quarterly 58(232), 416-36.
ICHIKAWA, J. J. (ed.) (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Epistemic Contextualism. Abingdon: Routledge.
LEWIS, D. (1979). Scorekeeping in a Language Game. Journal of Philosophical Logic 8(1): 339-59.
LEWIS, D. (1996). Elusive Knowledge. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 74(4): 549-67.
PRITCHARD, D. (2002). Two Forms of Epistemological Contextualism. Grazer Philosophische Studien 64: 19-55
SOSA, E. (2004). Relevant Alternatives, Contextualism Included. Philosophical Studies 119(1-2): 35-65.
Teaching method
The method adopted for the class combines readings and commentaries of texts in seminar along with discussion of student papers.
Evaluation method
Besides a descriptive memory of the seminar (60%), each student is required to write a review of a contemporary article or book chapter, to be chosen from a list of papers selected by the teacher, that will be presented and discussed in class (40%).