Introduction to Epistemology (Undergrad)
Handouts:
I. The Problem of Disagreement
- Introduction (Deane and Gramlich 2020)
- Can we agree to disagree? (Feldman 2006)
- Polarization arises from selective trust (O'Connor and Weatherall 2018, Chapter 3)
- Polarization arises from selective memory (Singer et al. 2019)
- Listening to fake news is rational (Rini 2020)
- How reasonable people can go off the rails (Nguyen 2020)
- Confirmation bias can be rational. (Kelly 2008)
- No, it can't. (McWilliams 2019)
- It's rational to stand your ground (Kelly 2005)
- It's rational to conciliate (Elga 2007)
- Disagreement destroys knowledge (McGrath 2008)
- Whether you should stand your ground doesn't depend on your confidence (Vavova 2014)
- Disagreement review
- How white ignorance perpetuates itself (Mills 2007)
- Is prejudice irrational? (Begby 2018 and Siegel 2018)
- Testimonial injustice (Fricker 2007, Ch. 1)
- You just believe that because... (Schoenfield 2020)
- When are irrelevant influences relevant? (Vavova 2018)
- Does evolution debunk our moral beliefs? (Street 2015)
- Irrelevant influences review
- Can we know anything? (Descartes 1641)
- Yes, because closure fails. (Gettier 1963; Nozick 1981)
- Yes, because 'knowledge' is context-sensitive. (Stine 1976)
- Agreed, and elaborated. (Lewis 1996)
- Yes, because we can't always know what our evidence is (Williamson 2000)
- Yes, because we can prove it (Moore 1939)
- Skepticism review