Philosophy 4

Ordinarily, I take myself to know many things. Right now, for instance, I will tell you that I know that climate change is real, and that my car is where I parked it last night. But do I really know these things, given that, after all, I could be mistaken about them? And why does the answer to this question matter? That is, why should I care about having knowledge, as opposed to merely having true beliefs? For that matter, why are true beliefs worth having? Assuming that knowledge and true beliefs are valuable, how should you go about trying to get them? For instance, how should you decide who to believe? And should you change your beliefs when you find out that a peer disagrees with you?

These are some of the questions that we will take up in this course. As we investigate these questions, we will hone our skills of reading, writing, and discussing philosophy.