Phil 122: Theory of Knowledge

Summer 2020 • University of California, Berkeley

Course Description

In this course we will study contemporary classics of epistemology (a.k.a. the theory of knowledge) on the topics of skepticism, justification, foundationalism, the relation between epistemology and other areas of philosophy, tracking, closure, reliabilism, internalism, and externalism, among others.

Required Texts

All readings will be made available electronically on bCourses.

Course Mechanics

Lectures and Discussion: I lecture with slides. The slides will be used to focus discussion and organize complex material; they are not a substitute for the readings. The slides will be made available on bCourses a few days after lecture. Students are expected to take careful notes and will be held responsible for the material discussed in class not found on the slides or in the readings.

Reading Assignments: Students are required to read each selection prior to class. You should take notes while reading, keeping track of questions or issues that arise. You should bring both the reading and the notes/questions to class.

Grading

• Participation: 10%
• Exams 1 and 2: 20% and 30% (see below for explanation)
• Final exam: 40%

All 3 exams will be writing-intensive "take home" exams, i.e., you will turn them in on bCourses. The final exam will be comprehensive, but will be concentrated more heavily on the material covered after exam 2.

If the student performs better on exam 1 than on exam 2, then exam 1 will count for 30% of the final grade, and exam 2 20%. Otherwise, exam 1 will count for 20% of the final grade, and exam 2 30%.

Course Policies

Zoom: Lecture and discussion section meetings will be conducted via Zoom. During lecture and discussion section meetings, students are not allowed to communicate to me or Jes by private chat (as it would be similarly inappropriate to conduct private discussion mid-class if we were in person). Also, before speaking during Zoom sessions, you are required to say your name first. Jes may provide additional guidelines that must be followed during discussion section meetings.

Attendance: There is no formal requirement for you to attend the lectures. However, all of the exams include questions that are designed specifically to test whether you attended, paid attention, and took notes during the lectures (as opposed to just studying the readings and slides), so absences will result in a lower overall grade. Jes may provide additional guidelines about attendance and participation that will apply during discussion section meetings.

Lateness: The exams must be submitted to bCourses before the date/time they are due; otherwise they will be considered late. A late exam will immediately result in a reduction of 1 full letter grade. For each additional 24 hours it is late, the grade will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade (B reduced to B-, C+ reduced to C, etc.). In fairness to students who make sacrifices to ensure that their work is turned in on time, no exceptions can be made to this policy unless you discuss it with me or Jes well in advance of the due date.

Academic Integrity: All suspicions of academic misconduct will be reported to the Center for Student Conduct according to university policy. Academic misconduct is not just blatant cheating (e.g., copying off another student during an exam), but includes copying other students’ essays; copying or using old essays; forgetting to cite material you took from an outside resource; turning in work completed in total or in part by another. This is an incomplete list; if you have questions concerning academic misconduct it is your responsibility to ask me or Jes for advice.

Tentative Reading Schedule (subject to change)