Philosophy 329: Skepticism
Syllabus
Last Updated: 8/3/05
Syllabus: Skepticism
PHIL 329 - DR. KEITH KORCZ - FALL 2005
How To Reach Professor Keith Korcz:
My office is in H. L. Griffin Hall, rm. 563. My office hours are MWF 12:00- 1:00 and 2:00-3:00, and TR 12:00-2:00. We can also meet at other times by arrangement - just ask. My office phone no. is 482-6806. You can also contact me (or ask questions) by e-mail at keithk@louisiana.edu.
Required Texts:
1. Sextus Empiricus, Selections From The Major Writings on Scepticism, Man and God, ed. by Philip P. Hallie, (Hackett, 1985). 2. Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction and Forecast, Fourth Ed., (Harvard University Press, 1983).
[you can read an obituary of Nelson Goodman here]5. Course Pack (on reserve at the Dupre Library Reserve Desk).
3. Keith DeRose and Ted A. Warfield, Skepticism: A Contemporary Reader, (Oxford University Press, 1999). 4. R. M. Sainsbury, Paradoxes, Second Ed., (Cambridge University Press, 1995).
Course Content:
Philosophical discussion of whether we really know what we think we know has been around at least since the fifth century BCE and has continued to the present day. Even as the aims and methods of philosophers have changed and developed radically over 2,500 years, the same sorts of questions about knowledge keep arising. Recently, discussion of these issues has hit popular culture as a result of the movie The Matrix, which was based on a skeptical scenario of the sort philosophers have discussed for at least the last 400 years. The aim of this class is to provide a survey of these questions and attempts to answer them.
Assignments & Grading:
There will be three in-class exams and a term paper. The three in-class exams include two given during the semester (each worth 20% of the course grade) and a cumulative final exam (worth 25% of the course grade). The format of the exams will be short-answer and multiple-choice. However, all make-up exams will be long essay. The exams will cover both lectures and assigned readings (material in lectures and assigned readings will not always overlap). All exams are closed book/closed note. The term paper will be completed in two successive drafts. The first draft will be worth 5% of the course grade and the final draft worth 30% of the course grade. The term paper should be approx. 12-15 pages in length. Each draft of the term paper will consist of two parts. The first part of the paper should be a critical discussion of a published article(s) or a view(s) we have discussed in class. The second part of the paper should consist of an original, positive contribution regarding one of the issues raised in the first part of the paper. Further information about the term paper will be provided later.
The letter grades will be assigned according to the standard scale, i.e. 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, 59% and below = F. Such factors as improvement over the length of the course, attendance, etc. may be taken into consideration, especially where doing so may improve a borderline grade. You must complete all course assignments to receive a passing grade for the course (i.e. a grade other than F, U or NC).
Class Policies:
If you miss class, for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to get class notes from another student. Missed exams or other assignments can be made up only if an appropriate excuse, e.g., illness requiring medical attention, participation in certain official university events, etc., is provided. If you miss an assignment due date, you must notify me within one week of the due date in order to make up the assignment. An unexcused late assignment will be dropped 2/3 of a letter grade per day it is late. If you have a disability and require assistance with fulfilling class assignments, don't hesitate to notify the instructor and the Office for Services to Students with Disabilities at 482-5252. Finally, be sure you are familiar with all university policies described in the UL Lafayette Undergraduate Bulletin. All assignments for this class must be completed individually, and any instance of academic dishonesty on any assignment will be sufficient to fail the course.
Internet Resources:
I strongly recommend taking advantage of the following resources I have created for you!
The course home page contains some useful links as well as an on-line syllabus with links to many of the readings and author's home pages. The URL address is: http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/329SkepticismHome.html
My How To Survive Your First Philosophy Course pages contain useful information about what I look for when grading papers, how to study for my exams, reading philosophy, taking notes, doing research in philosophy, etc. The URL address is: http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/Survival.html.
The best Internet resource for theory of knowledge is The Epistemology Research Guide at http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/EpistemologicalResearch.html. It contains links to the home pages of numerous contemporary epistemologists as well as over 400 papers in epistemology available on-line.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures:
A map of this floor is posted near the elevator marking the evacuation route and the Designated Rescue Area. This is an area where emergency service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need assistance in exiting the building. Students who may need assistance should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.
Course Calendar Planned Reading Assignments*
You should complete each of the readings before they are discussed in class. Some of the readings are difficult, and you may find that you need to re-read them after they have been discussed in class in order to fully understand them.
P = Paradoxes
SE = Selections from the Major Writings on Scepticism, Man and God
FF = Fact, Fiction and Forecast
S = Skepticism: A Contemporary Reader
CP = Course Packet
Topic 1. Ancient Paradoxes (5th - 4th Century BCE)
a. Zeno's Paradoxes (P, Chapter 1) (You can read ancient descriptions of Zeno's paradoxes on-line), Week of August 22.
b. Sorites (P, chapter 2).
Topic 2. Early Skepticism (4th Century BCE - 2nd Century CE)
a. Overview (SE, Introduction), Week of August 29.
b. Pyrrho (CP, "Selections from Lives of Eminent Philosophers" by Diogenes Laertius). (The section about Timon is on-line, as is the complete section on Pyrhho.)
Monday, September 5 - Labor Day - No Classes
c. The Academics (CP, "Selections from Academica" by Cicero), Sept. 7 and 9.
d. Sextus Empiricus (SE, p. 29-128), Weeks of Sept. 12 and 19. (Outlines of Pyrhonnism, Book I, is available on-line here.)
EXAM #1: FRIDAY, SEPT. 23.
Topic 3. Skepticism and the Modern Era (16th Century CE - 18th Century CE)
a. The Enlightenment Revival (CP, "Man Can Have No Knowledge" by Michel De Montaigne [the complete essay, An Apology for Raymond Sebond, from which our selection is taken is available here] and "That Nothing Is Known" by Francisco Sanches), Week of Sept. 26.
b. A Rationalist Response (CP, "Skepticism, Morality and The Matrix" by Gerald Erion and Barry Smith; "Meditations I - III" by Rene Descartes), Oct. 3 and Oct. 5.
Thursday, Oct. 6 and Friday, Oct. 7 - Fall Holiday - No Classes
c. An Empiricist Response (CP: "Of the Idea of Necessary Connexion" [on the linked page, you will need to scroll down to Part III, Section XIV] by David Hume), Week of Oct. 10.
FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE: MONDAY, OCT. 10, AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Topic 4. Contemporary Reactions to Skeptical Arguments (20th Century CE)
a. Overview (S, Chapter 1, "Introduction: Responding to Skepticism" by Keith DeRose), Week of Oct. 17.
b. The Problem of the Criterion (CP, "The Problem of the Criterion" by Roderick Chisholm).
c. The Commonsense Thread (CP, "Hume's Theory Examined" by G. E. Moore), Week of Oct. 24.
d. The Fallibilism Thread.
e. The Closure Thread (S, Chapter 10, "Philosophical Explanations" by Robert Nozick).
EXAM #2: FRIDAY, OCT. 28.
f. The Induction Thread, Week of Oct. 31.
1. The Humean Problem (FF, p. 59-66).
2. The Gruesome Problem (FF, p. 66-124).
3. Paradoxes of Confirmation (P, p. 73-91).
g. The Analyticity/ Naturalization Thread, Weeks of Nov. 7 and 14.
1. Kant's Reply to Hume (CP, "The Impossibility of a Sceptical Satisfaction..." and "Introduction" by Immanuel Kant).
2. Quine's Reply to Kant (CP, "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" by W. V. O. Quine).
3. Naturalized/Externalist Epistemologies (S, Chapter 7, "Process Reliabilism and Cartesian Skepticism" by Christopher Hill).
Topic 5. New Directions (late 20th Century CE)
a. Semantic Externalism (S, Chapter 2, "Brains in a Vat" by Hilary Putnam and Chapter 5, "A Priori Knowledge of the World: Knowing the World by Knowing Our Minds" by Ted A. Warfield), Nov. 21 and 23.
b. Contextualism (S, Chapter 11, "Solving the Skeptical Problem" by Keith DeRose).
FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE: WEDNESDAY, NOV. 23, AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25 - Turkey Day Holidays - No Classes
Topic 6. More Fun With Paradoxes
a. Russell & The Liar (P, Chapter 5, "Classes & Truth"), Week of Nov. 28.
b. Brain Twisters (P. Appendix I, "Some More Paradoxes").
c. Dialethism (P, Chapter 6, "Are Any Contradictions Acceptable?").
FINAL EXAM, IN REGULAR CLASSROOM: TUESDAY, DEC. 6, 10:15AM - 12:45PM.
Wednesday, Dec. 7 - Study Day
*NOTE: Readings, assignments and due dates are tentative and may be changed.
