Epistemology: Theories of Knowledge, Language, Interpretation, and Science (AP9230C)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit examines excerpts from major philosophical texts in order to discuss some of the significant issues of epistemology, interpretation, and philosophy of science. Questions considered may include some or all of the following: What is knowledge? Does knowledge come from our senses, or from reason? What is the status of scientific and historical knowledge? What is the relation between thought, language, and reality? (This unit may be offered weekly or intensive.)

Unit code: AP9230C

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Sketch the main epistemological issues in the Western philosophical tradition.
2.

Explain and analyse the fundamental ideas, positions, and arguments of some of the thinkers studied in the unit.
3.

Elaborate accounts of the strengths and weaknesses of the major arguments of some of the thinkers in the unit.
4.

Critically reflect on philosophical debates about the status of scientific and historical knowledge.
5.

Define, plan, and undertake a topic of research in a critically rigorous, sustained, and self-directed manner.

Unit sequence

One foundational unit of philosophy

Pedagogy

Lectures and discussion of readings

Indicative Bibliography

  • Alcoff, Linda Martin, ed. Epistemology: The Big Questions. Philosophy: The Big Questions. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
  • Audi, Robert. Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, 2nd ed. Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy. London: Routledge, 2002.
  • Dancy, Jonathon, and Ernest Sosa, eds. A Companion to Epistemology. Blackwell Companions to Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
  • Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
  • Grondin, Jean. Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
  • Landesman, Charles. An Introduction to Epistemology. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
  • Lemos, Noah. An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  • Musgrave, Alan. Common Sense, Science, and Scepticism: A Historical Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  • Norris, Christopher. On Truth and Meaning: Language, Logic and the Grounds of Belief. London: Continuum, 2006.
  • O’Brien, Dan. An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge: Polity, 2006.
  • Polanyi, Michael. Personal Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Skeleton Argument

Variant 1 - 1000-word skeleton argument

One choice from two assessment variants will be nominated at the time of scheduling by the lecturer/unit coordinator prior to the start of the unit, published in the unit outline. Students may have topical choices within a given assessment variant, but are not able to make choices outside that set of assessments.

 1000 10.0
Essay

Variant 1 - 4000-word essay

 4000 50.0
Written Examination

Variant 1 - 2-hour written examination

 2000 40.0

Variant 2

Skeleton Argument

Variant 2 - 1000-word skeleton argument

One choice from two assessment variants will be nominated at the time of scheduling by the lecturer/unit coordinator prior to the start of the unit, published in the unit outline. Students may have topical choices within a given assessment variant, but are not able to make choices outside that set of assessments.

 1000 10.0
Essay

Variant 2 - 6000-word essay

 6000 90.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 19 Jul, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-07-19 12:37:05 +1000