Quassim Cassam

Time and Venue: Term 2 Monday 4-6pm in R2.41

This module will focus on the nature of explanation in epistemology. A compelling thought is that, at least in central cases, when a person S knows some proposition P there must be an answer (which S may or may not know) to the question ‘How does S know that P?’. Call this the explanatory requirement on knowledge. We will focus on three main questions: (1) How should we understand the explanatory requirement? (2) What does the explanatory requirement tell us about the nature of knowing? (3) Are there types of knowledge to which the explanatory requirement does not apply?

Reading list

Barry Stroud, Understanding Human Knowledge (Oxford 2000).
Robert Nozick, Philosophical Explanations (Harvard 1981).
Timothy Williamson, Knowledge and its Limits (Oxford 2000)

This module is currently not yet on OMR. If you are interested in taking this module, please contact Debbi Deely and Sue Podmore in the department's Graduate Office.