To introduce students to contemporary epistemology and to prepare them for more advanced study in this area.

To enable students to address traditional issues in epistemology, such as the nature and sources of
knowledge.

To enable students to engage with cutting-edge research in contemporary epistemology, including on topics (e.g., bias, epistemic justice, fake news) that are of wide social significance.

To enable students to critically reflect on their own practices and methods of enquiry, in particular on how they access information online.

(LO1) Students will be able to discuss some of the main traditional philosophical questions concerning knowledge and its sources.

(LO2) Students will be able to discuss some topics in contemporary epistemology that are of wide social significance.

(LO3) Students will be able to discuss some philosophical issues relating to scientific and social-scientific knowledge.

(LO4) Students will be able to explain, and competently to employ, key terminology and concepts from traditional and contemporary epistemology.

(LO5) To enable students to critically reflect on their own practices and methods of enquiry, in particular how they access information online.

(S1) Students will enhance their abilities in reading and understanding texts and in comprehending abstract material.

(S2) Students will develop their skills in thinking critically, analysing problems and analysing and assessing arguments.

(S3) Students will enhance their ability to identify the issues that underlie debates.

(S4) Students will develop confidence in considering previously unfamiliar ideas and approaches, and their ability to identify presuppositions and to reflect critically upon them.

(S5) Students will enhance their ability to marshal arguments and present them orally and in writing.

(S6) Students will develop their ability to work independently.

(S7) Students will develop their ability to sift through information, assessing the relevance and importance of the information to what is at issue.

(S8) Students will develop their problem-solving skills.

(S9) Students will enhance their capacity to participate, in a dispassionate and respectful manner, in debates about controversial and profound matters.

(S10) Students will develop their willingness critically to evaluate and reflect upon arguments, beliefs, proposals and values, both their own and those of others.

Indicative Lecture Schedule:
1: Scepticism
2: Perception and Memory
3: Introspection and Reason
4: The Theory of Knowledge
5: Reliabilism
6: Virtue Epistemology
7: Testimony
8: Disagreement
9: Epistemic Justice
10: Epistemic Justice
11: Fake News and Post-Truth

Teaching method: Lecture
Description: 11 x 1 hour lectures. Lectures will take place in weeks 1-6 and 8-12.

Lectures are tutor-led activities, offering a map of the syllabus and a framework for independent enquiry-led research. Students are encouraged to engage actively with lectures through, for example: (i) taking opportunities to ask questions during the session; (ii) carrying out short reading, listening and writing tasks set by the tutor during the lecture; (iii) reflecting on topics and issues presented in the lectures during short (1-2 minute) “solo reflective breaks”; (iv)producing questions and notes on issues for subsequent group discussion in seminars.

Schedule directed student hours: 11
Unscheduled directed student hours: 0
Attendance recorded: Yes

Teaching method: Seminar
Description: 11 x 1 hour seminar. Seminars will take place in weeks 1-6 and 8-12.

Seminars are formative spaces of applied and enquiry-led learning based on pre-set readings, tasks and questions. They are facilitated by the tutor. Seminars offer opportunities for students to respond to tutor- and peer-set questions, deepen understanding, apply ideas, develop arguments and build confidence through group discussion. In each seminar students are split into small groups and discuss set questions on the seminar reading. While students should structure their discussion around the set questions, they are encouraged to identify their own questions, issues and lines of enquiry. During the small group discussion, the tutor plays an observing role, noting down pertinent and valuable ideas, issues and lines of enquiry. After the small group discussion, the tutor then uses the ideas and issues raised in the small group discussions to set the agenda for the rest of the seminar. This gives each group a chance to present, discuss and get feedback on their ideas with the other seminar participants, as well as from the tutor.

Schedule direct ed student hours: 11
Unscheduled directed student hours: 0
Attendance recorded: No

The majority of teaching will be delivered face to face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.