PHI 315Knowledge and RealityFall 2001 |
|
PHI 315-001 Class News |
|
|
Course Description
Course Syllabus Course Outline Course Assignments Course Links Your Grades Discussion Board Class Email Links Email Garns Dr. Garns's Class Web Site Garns's Home NKU Home Page |
Course Description:Throughout the semester we will be exploring various philosophical questions that arise within the general fields of metaphysics (as a study of the nature of reality) and epistemology (as a study of the nature of knowledge). We will focus primarily on two central problems: (1) the nature and possibility of inductive knowledge and (2) the existence of natural kinds and essential natures. Both David Hume and Nelson Goodman have presented us with problems surrounding the practice of inductive reasoning. John Locke and W. V. O. Quine have argued against the existence of natural kinds and essential natures. But Hilary Kornblith has recently argued that inductive knowledge is possible because our native cognitive abilities appropriately dovetail with the world's causal order. We will spend the semester exploring the problems Kornblith is addressing and then carefully and critically examining his own proposal.
TR 12:15 - 1:30 - LA 205 Prof. Rudy Garns - Office: LA 240 - Phone: 572-5528 garns@nku.edu - http://access.nku.edu/garns |
|
|