Teaching Theory of Knowledge

THE FIRST COURSE

      There is something fundamentally paradoxical about teaching theory of knowledge. When students ask, jut what are we supposed to know for the nexltest?", what does a teacher of epistemology say? And if that question comes from a person who is not yet acquainted with the curious self-reflexive nature of philosophy -- our tendency to ask questions about the very way we ask questions -- how can we expect to operate simultaneously on all of the levels it demands? In short, is it possible to teach theory of knowledge and introduce students to philosophy both at the same time, without hopelessly confusing them or frustrating ourselves?

      In this section, you will find courses that illustrate four different ways to answer that question. The first course, "Knowledge, Rationality and Science," offers a broad, thematic overview of epistemology, suitable as a first course in philosophy, or as an honors general education course. It assumes no philosophical background, and suggests some cross-disciplinary possiblities with anthropology, psychology, and history of science. Students should come away from this course with an understanding of the assumptions that shape our Western view of intellectual inquiry, how it has developed, and how it should be judged.

      The second course, "Introduction to Philosophy (Emphasizing Epistemology)," shows how a standard introductory philosophy course can be adapted to focus on central historical texts in epistemology. Students taking this course will receive a solid grounding in the tools of philosophy (logic, argument analysis, etc.), as well as a thorough acquaintance with spme of its classic figures (Descartes, Berkeley, Russell, etc.).

      The third course, "Introduction to Epistemology: A Topical Approach," represents one way to introduce students to recent issues in epistemology. Teachers interested in adapting this course for their own use may find additional material in the relevant modules from the Contemporary Sources section -- for example, modules 1, 3 and 6. The advantage of this approach is that students receive a focused survey of the problems 20th century epistemologists have encountered as they pursue an analysis of knowledge. For that reason, we believe it offers a good introduction to epistemology.

      Finally, we have included a course, "Skepticism," which illustrates how a single topic can be developed to introduce students both to various important analytic tools (e.g., paradigm case arguments, ordinary language analysis), and also to central epistemological concerns (e.g., concepts of knowledge, doubt, certainty and belief). Ranging from Descartes to Wiltgenstein, this course combines an interesting topic with a wide variety of approaches to that topic; it should serve well both as an introduction to epistemology and also as a solid basic course in philosophy.