Basic information
Time and location
There will be two sessions a week, both in the Philosophy Department (KGW), Franziskanergasse 1, 4th floor. The first will be on Tuesdays from 13:15 to 14:45, in HS 302, and the second will be on Wednesdays from 17:15 to 18:45, in HS 301.
Course description
How we can acquire knowledge about the world around us seems clear enough: we do so by observing. But not all of our knowledge can be acquired this way. We seem to know, for instance, that all reptiles are are animals, that 5 is a prime number, and that slavery is morally abhorrent, and none of those facts seems like something we can come to know by observation. Our knowledge of them, then, must somehow be independent of experience. But is this sort of knowledge really possible? If so, how? What, if anything, explains our ability to get at the truth in these domains? In this course we’ll investigate possible answers to these questions by examining historical and contemporary work on the nature of a priori knowledge.
Structure
Generally, Tuesday sessions will be more lecture-heavy; lectures will introduce relevant background information and clarify some of the material from the week’s readings. Wednesday sessions will be devoted to student-led critical discussion.
Goals
The central aim of the course is to enable students to think analytically about some fundamental problems in epistemology and to develop the capacity to present their own views in this area concisely and rigorously. More specifically, by the end of the course you’re expected to be able to:
- show a deep understanding of the contemporary debate on the epistemology of the apriori;
- articulate clearly the relative merits and defects of each of the main approaches to the a priori;
- develop in a sustained manner your own criticisms of some of these ideas and arguments and initiate original lines of thought;
- show a deep understanding of the connections between the epistemology of the a priori and other areas of philosophy; and
- show an improved capacity for making complex ideas understandable in your philosophical writing and in your public speaking.
Materials
Readings for the course are available at our Schedule page. To access any of these readings, you must be (i) logged in to your University account and (ii) enrolled in this course (or otherwise explicitly granted access by me – if you need access, send me an email). You can log in to your University account here.
Policies
Work and expectations
Attendance is mandatory.
Wednesday sessions will be student-led. Starting in the third week of the course, one or more students will be responsible for chairing each session: directing the discussion based on the week’s readings and students’ responses to those readings (see below). We’ll decide on a chairing rotation early in the semester, and it will be added to our Schedule page.
In order to facilitate discussion (and to clarify to me what points need to be emphasized in lecture), you’ll be required to submit a short response to each week’s assigned readings: two questions or comments, 150 words at most. These responses must show that you’re engaging with the readings. Each week, you should email your response to me and to that week’s discussion chair(s) by the end of the day on Monday.
The other assignments for the course will a short midterm paper and a slightly longer final paper.
Grading
Your grade in the course will be calculated as follows:
- Chairing and class participation (including attendance): 20%
- Weekly reading responses: 20%
- Midterm paper: 20%
- Final paper: 40%
Academic support
If you have any problems with the course, please do get in touch with me. If you need to talk about any problems affecting your work, please contact the Head of the Department, Alexander Hieke (alexander[dot]hieke[at]plus[dot]ac[dot]at).