Prof Anna Mahtani

This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad) and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Students must have completed, or be in the process of completing PH111 Introduction to Logic (or PH101/PH104).

Each of us represent the world as being a certain way. Perhaps we have knowledge about the world, or at any rate beliefs, or probabilities in certain possibilities. But how do we arrive at these representations? Do these representations reflect reality? And which conditions should they satisfy in order to be rational? Are perception, memory, testimony and intuitions reliable sources of information? The way that we represent the world affects the choices that we make, but how exactly do or should we arrive at decisions? These are some of the questions that we cover in this course on epistemology.

The first half of the course is an exploration of classic epistemology. We begin with the argument for skepticism about the external world, and in seeking to solve this problem we consider a range of positions and arguments in epistemology, including: the JTB account; the causal theory of knowing; reliabilism; internalism and externalism; contextualism and semantic externalism.

The second half of the course focuses on modern formal epistemology. Moving from a qualitative to a quantitative concept of belief, we explore Bayesian epistemology – a powerful account of rational degrees of belief or credence. We consider a series of puzzles for Bayesian epistemologists: the sleeping beauty problem; imprecise probabilities; awareness growth; and the surprise exam paradox. 

Throughout, the aim will be to give a sharp understanding of key concepts, arguments, and the logical relationships between different ideas. We aim to give students a conceptual toolbox for rigorous analysis that can be applied to a range of areas.

10 hours of lectures, 10 hours of classes and 2 hours of workshops in the AT.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT.

• Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy;
• Barry Stroud, The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism;
• Laurence BonJour, Epistemology: Classic Problems and Contemporary Responses, 2nd Edition;
• Brian Skyrm, Choice and Chance

Essay (80%, 2000 words) in the period between AT and WT.
Exercise (10%) and class participation (10%) in the AT.