Knowledge and Reality, Hum/PI 9, Caltech, Winter 2006 - last updated: Feb 13, 2006

Instructor

Franz Huber

Office: 201A Dabney Office Hours: by appointment via Email: franz AT caltech DOT edu

Phone: 626-395-1737 (o) 626-796-2962 (h)

When and where?

Session I: Tue 2.00 - 3.55 pm, Thu 2.00 - 2.55 pm 117 Dabney

Session II: Tue 7.00 - 8.55 pm, Thu 7.00 - 7.55 pm 237 Baxter

Course Description

Knowledge and Reality provides an introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology. Metaphysics is the
study of first principles or fundamental concepts. Its subfield Ontology is concerned with questions about
existence. There are two stories about the origin of the word 'metaphysics'. According to one, the books by
Aristotle that were put behind his Physics were collectively called Metaphysics. According to the other,
these books were called Metaphysics, because the themes discussed in them go beyond or underlie those of
his Physics. Both stories make sense. Typical metaphysical questions we will deal with are: Is there a god?
If so, can we prove its existence? Is there an external world? If so, can we prove that there is an external
world? What is the nature of causation? Is there a distinction between statements that are true due to their
meaning - such as 'All bachelors are unmarried' - and statements whose truth value depends on what is the
case - such as 'All bachelors are younger than 55 years'?

Epistemology is the study of the nature, scope, and limitations of knowledge and justified belief. Among
the epistemological questions we will be concerned with are: What is knowledge - is it justified true belief?
Can we ever know anything? If there exists an external world, what can we know about it? Can we be
justified in our beliefs about the future? If there is a distinction between analytic statements, which are true
due to their meaning, and synthetic statements, whose truth value depends on what is the case, can we have
a priori knowledge about analytic and/or synthetic statements, that is, knowledge before or without any
empirical input via our senses? Or else, is all our knowledge a posteriori?

For every classic of western philosophy of the reading selection (Plato, Anselm, Sextus and Descartes,
Berkeley, Hume on induction, Hume on causation, Kant) there is a contribution on a related topic by a
more or less contemporary philosopher (Gettier, Lewis, Putnam, Russell, Goodman, Lewis, Quine,
respectively) - more or less, because Russell is already a classic rather than a contemporary philosopher.
The idea of this is to give you an overview of some of the main philosophical problems and their discussion
by historically important philosophers as well as to show you that there still is a lively debate about these
problems among contemporary philosophers. Philosophy is not a dead discipline - nor is it a discipline
without any progress. On the contrary, philosophy has never enjoyed so much popularity - most
philosophers are still alive! - and especially in the last century there has been considerable progress in many
areas. This is partly due to developments in other areas (the foundations of mathematics, physics, biology,
psychology, cognitive science, economics) and partly due to developments within philosophy - the
clarification of certain concepts (possible world), the introduction of new concepts (supervenience), and the
use of formal tools (mainly from logic and probability theory).
Evaluation

The evaluation for this class has four components: class participation (44%), first paper (12%), second
paper (20%), third paper (24%). Your overall grade x is calculated as follows:

x = 1 - ([44(1-x1)p + 12(1-x2)p + 20(1-x3)p + 24(1-x4)p]/100])1/p, p = 2

with xi in [0,1] being your grade for the ith component, i = 1, ..., 4. The purpose of the parameter p is, of
course, that I do not want you to write three excellent papers without showing up for class; or to write two
excellent papers and to engage a lot in classroom, but to forget about the third paper, because you fall in
love on the weekend before the end of the term. The only acceptable excuses for not attending a class are
attested illness and serious family reasons.

For an A you need x > .91, for a B you need x > .8, for a C you need x > .67, for a D you need x > .52. You
pass the class just in case you have an A or a B or a C or a D.

For instance, if you get x2 = 0, then the best degree you can possibly get is a D. On the other hand, if your
xi are never below .91, then you get an A.

As you can see, class participation is the most important factor for your grade. This reflects the fact that
philosophy is more of an activity than a doctrine. To philosophize is, to a great extent, to actively engage in
critical discussion. In fact, there has even been a time when some people took philosophy to consist of
nothing but logical analysis, the clarification of concepts using the formal tools of logic. "Whereof one
cannot speak, thereof one must be silent"...

Papers

An important aspect of this class is writing. There will be three paper assignments. The first paper should
be 1000 words in length and is on the question whether knowledge is justified true belief. The second paper
should be 1500 words in length and is on the question whether there is a god, and if so, whether we can
prove its existence. For both the first and second paper a draft is required, which will be discussed in class.
The topic of the third paper is one of the following: skepticism, induction, causation. There is no draft
requirement for the third paper. You are assumed to have acquired writing skills by then. Note that the third
paper has more weight for your grade than the second paper, which in turn has more weight than the first
paper. A hardcopy of each paper or draft is due at the beginning of the class as indicated in the course
calendar. In addition, the drafts (but not the final papers) are also due in electronic form. Please do not
forget to include your name and contact information.

In each case you can choose whether you want to (a) reconstruct an argument by a philosopher (e.g. one of
Gettier's arguments that justified true belief is not knowledge); (b) object to an argument as well as consider
possible replies to your objection(s); (c) apply a certain thesis to a relevant case; (d) provide your own
original argument for a thesis; (e) test a certain thesis by conducting a thought experiment. For more see
How to Write a Philosophy Paper.

It goes without saying that all aspects of this class are subject to the university's honor code. It is
particularly important not to plagiarize.

The textbook we will use is

 Cahn, Steven M. (ed.), Classics of Western Philosophy. 6th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002.

It can be purchased in the Caltech bookstore. The page numbers below refer to this book.

The following two encyclopediae are highly recommended whenever you look for further information
about a particular topic or a certain philosopher:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Darren Brierton's Towards a Philosophical Lexicon explains some philosophical terminology.

For guidelines on reading philosophy see Jim Pryor's entry.

Course Calendar (subject to slight short notice modifications)

Jan 5 Overview (1h)

Jan 10 Plato: Theaetetus (1h) + Edmund L. Gettier: Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? (1h)

Jan 12 How to write a philosophy paper (1h)

Jan 17 Anselm: Proslogion (381-382: ch. 2-4), Gaunilo's Reply on Behalf of the Fool (391-393) (1h)
+ David Lewis: Anselm and Actuality (1h)

Jan 19 Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Pyrrhonism (318-322: ch. I-XIII + Ch. XIV: The Ten Modes,
329-331: Fourth and Fifth Mode) (1h)

Draft of Justified True Belief (JTB) paper due (1000 words)

Jan 24 Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (460-473: Meditations One to Three) (2h)

Jan 26 Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (473-479: Meditations Four to Five) (1h)

Jan 31 Discussion of JTB paper (1h) + Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (479-486:
Meditation Six) (1h)

Draft of GOD paper due (1500 words)

Feb 2 George Berkeley: A Treatise Concerning The Principles of Human Knowledge (679-685)
(1h)

Feb 7 Bertrand Russell: The Problems of Philosophy (1143-1149, 1152-1160: ch. I-II, IV-V) (2h)

Feb 9 Discussion of GOD paper (1h)

Revised version of JTB paper due (1000 words)

Feb 14 Hilary Putnam: Brains in a Vat (2h)

Feb 16 no class
Feb 21 David Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (742-752: sct. III-V.I) +
Bertrand Russell: The Problems of Philosophy (1160-1163: ch. VI) (2h)

Revised version of GOD paper due (1500 words)

Feb 23 David Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (763-765) + David Lewis:
Causation (1h)

Feb 28 Nelson Goodman: The New Riddle of Induction (2h)

Mar 2 Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason (891-900) (1h)

Skepticism or Induction or Causation paper due (1500 words)

Mar 7 Willard van Orman Quine: Two Dogmas of Empiricism (2h)

Mar 9 no class

Undergraduate Philosophy Journals

Peter Milne lists several undergraduate philosophy journals. Consider submitting your papers for
publication in these journals!

Alternative Readings:

Gilbert H. Harman: The Inference to the Best Explanation

David Lewis: Elusive Knowledge

Willard van Orman Quine: Epistemology Naturalized

Robert C. Stalnaker: Possible Worlds