Postgraduate Course: Epistemology (Online) (PHIL11131)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences | 
College | College of Humanities and Social Science | 
 
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) | 
 
| Course type | Online Distance Learning | 
Availability | Not available to visiting students | 
 
| SCQF Credits | 20 | 
ECTS Credits | 10 | 
 
 
| Summary | The course examines the nature of human knowledge and cognition.  This area is called 'epistemology' and it is among the classic and continuously prominent sub-fields of philosophy.  No previous philosophical or logical expertise is required.  Any technical / unfamiliar terms will be defined as we go. 
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| Course description | 
    
    The course covers a range of core topics in epistemology, such as (inexhaustive list): the analysis of knowledge; scepticism; the structure of justification; externalism and internalism about knowledge and justification; feminism and epistemology; contextualism; relativism; knowledge-first epistemology; the norm of assertion; epistemological methodology.
    
    
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites | 
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Co-requisites |  | 
 
| Prohibited Combinations |  | 
Other requirements |  None | 
 
 
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1) 
  
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Quota:  None | 
 
| Course Start | 
Semester 1 | 
 
| Course Start Date | 
18/09/2017 | 
 
Timetable  | 
	
Timetable | 
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) | 
 
 Total Hours:
200
(
 Lecture Hours 20,
 Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
 Summative Assessment Hours 20,
 Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
151 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) | 
 
  Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
85 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) | 
Students will be assessed by a 2500 word essay at the end of the semester (85%) and successful participation in the on-line activities associated with the course. How the participation component will be assessed will be made clear to the students at the start of the course. 
 
Word limit: 2500 words maximum (excluding references) 
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| Feedback | 
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic. 
 
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| No Exam Information | 
 
Learning Outcomes 
    On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
    
        - articulate central issues, views and concepts in epistemology
 - critically analyze and engage with the contemporary epistemological literature.
 - present arguments clearly and concisely both within a classroom and in a 2,500-word essay.
 - gain transferable skills in research, analysis and argumentation.
 - critically discuss philosophical arguments with peers.
 
     
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Reading List 
Available through Talis aspire 
http://resourcelists.ed.ac.uk/index.html 
 
Indicative reading list: 
 
Gettier, Edmund (1963). Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Analysis 23(6):121-123. Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/GETIJT-4 
 
Descartes, Rene (1641). The First Meditation from Meditations on First Philosophy. 
 
Klein, Peter. 2001: Skepticism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  Online: http://plato.Stanford.edu/entries/skepticism 
 
Williams, Michael. 2001: Skepticism. The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology (eds. Sosa and Kim), pp. 35-69. 
Online:http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/uid=2748/tocnode?id=g9780631202912_chun k_g97806312029124 
 
Goldman, Alvin I. (1979). What is Justified Belief? In Ernest Sosa & Jaegwon Kim (eds.), 
 
Graham, Peter J. (2012). Epistemic Entitlement. Noûs 46 (3):449-482.  Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/GRAEE 
 
Rysiew, Patrick (2009): Epistemic Contextualism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta. Spring 2009 edn.  Online: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contextualism-epistemology 
 
Rysiew, Patrick. (2001). The context-sensitivity of knowledge attributions. Noûs, 35 (4): 477-514. 
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/RYSTCO 
 
Nagel, Jennifer (2010). Knowledge ascriptions and the psychological consequences of thinking about error. Philosophical Quarterly 60 (239):286-306. 
Online: http://philpapers.org/rec/NAGKAA-2 
 
Nagel, Jennifer. Forthcoming. 'Intuitions and Experiments: A Defense of the Case Method in Epistemology', Philosophy and Phenomenological Research: 
Online: http://philpapers.org/archive/NAGIAE.1.pdf 
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills | 
Students can develop their ability for independent learning through online resources. | 
 
| Additional Class Delivery Information | 
Priority for this course will be given to online MSc/Dip/Cert Epistemology, Ethics and Mind students. Students on any other programme must obtain permission to enrol from Prof Jesper Kallestrup as Programme Director. | 
 
| Keywords | Epistemology | 
 
 
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Ms Fiona Doherty 
Tel:  
Email:  | 
Course secretary | Ms Becky Verdon 
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002 
Email:  | 
   
 
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