Theories of Knowledge

Test #4 Questions Due 5/13/2019

Answer each of the three questions below. Your answer to each question should be approximately 1-2 typed pages. Your goal should be to write a concise, coherent, and original answer that addresses all aspects of the question. An original answer makes only sparing use of quotations (see the citation guidelines for advice on quotation usage).  You can use course readings, slides, and other sources to help you compose your answers. When consulting external sources you should keep in mind that they likely have different expository and/or pedagogical goals. You should note ALL sources you consult, especially those that you quote or which otherwise strongly influence your exposition at the end of each question. Observe all conventions about citations and quotations. Please make sure to ask in class about any aspects of the question with which your are unclear. I encourage you to go through several drafts of your answers.  All tests will be run through turnitin.

1.) Outline Goodman's new riddle of induction.  In what way does Goodman think that his new riddle of induction differs from Hume's classic problem of induction?

2.) Salmon suggests that Reichenbach's pragmatic justification of induction makes a case for a adopting an inductive approach to non-demonstrative ampliative inferences, but not a specific inductive inference principle.  Explain why the difference between the availability heuristic and standard contemporary statistical inference practice illustrates his point.

3.) To what do Weinberg, Nichols, and Stich refer with the phrase, "Intuition Driven Romanticism"? How do Weinberg, Nichols, and Stich assess intuition driven romanticism? What conclusions do they draw from that assessment?

Test #3 Questions  Due 5/3/2019

Answer each of the three questions below. Your answer to each question should be approximately 1-2 typed pages. Your goal should be to write a concise, coherent, and original answer that addresses all aspects of the question. An original answer makes only sparing use of quotations (see the citation guidelines for advice on quotation usage).  You can use course readings, slides, and other sources to help you compose your answers. When consulting external sources you should keep in mind that they likely have different expository and/or pedagogical goals. You should note ALL sources you consult, especially those that you quote or which otherwise strongly influence your exposition at the end of each question. Observe all conventions about citations and quotations. Please make sure to ask in class about any aspects of the question with which your are unclear. I encourage you to go through several drafts of your answers.  All tests will be run through turnitin.

1.) Present Kim's argument for why we should believe normative epistemology is possible.  Be sure to outline Kim's conception of normative epistemology as well as Kim's argument.

2.) Explain Quine's notions of conceptual and doctrinal studies as he applies them in Epistemology.

3.) Present BonJour's Samantha case.  Explain how the case undermines reliabilist theories of justification according to BonJour.

Test #2 Questions

Answer each of the three questions below. Your answer to each question should be approximately 1-2 typed pages. Your goal should be to write a concise, coherent, and original answer that addresses all aspects of the question. An original answer makes only sparing use of quotations (see the citation guidelines for advice on quotation usage).  You can use course readings, slides, and other sources to help you compose your answers. When consulting external sources you should keep in mind that they likely have different expository and/or pedagogical goals. You should note ALL sources you consult, especially those that you quote or which otherwise strongly influence your exposition at the end of each question. Observe all conventions about citations and quotations. Please make sure to ask in class about any aspects of the question with which your are unclear. I encourage you to go through several drafts of your answers.  All tests will be run through turnitin.

1.) Recount Goldman’s reasons for rejecting the first candidate for a base clause in “What is Justified Belief?”
“(1) If S believes p at t, and p is indubitable for S (at t), then S's belief in p at t is justified.” (p.3)
 

2.) What sort of theory of knowledge does Gettier suppose is the currently accepted view in epistemology when he writes his paper?  What specific objection does Gettier raise to that theory of knowledge? Recount an example from Feldman's article, An Alleged Defect in Gettier Counter-Examples. What objection to Gettier's original examples does Feldman's seek to avoid in his example?
 

3.) According to Sosa what theory about justification transmission is presupposed by the coherentist's doxastic ascent argument?  Does Sosa reject the theory about justification transmission that he posits in the doxastic ascent argument?  Why or why not?

Test #1 Questions

Answer each of the three questions below. Your answer to each question should be approximately 1-2 typed pages. Your goal should be to write a concise, coherent, and original answer that addresses all aspects of the question. An original answer makes only sparing use of quotations (see the citation guidelines for advice on quotation usage).  You can use course readings, slides, and other sources to help you compose your answers. When consulting external sources you should keep in mind that they likely have different expository and/or pedagogical goals. You should note ALL sources you consult, especially those that you quote or which otherwise strongly influence your exposition at the end of each question. Observe all conventions about citations and quotations. Please make sure to ask in class about any aspects of the question with which your are unclear. I encourage you to go through several drafts of your answers.  All tests will be run through turnitin.

1.) Briefly outline Plato's problem regarding false beliefs (in the Theaetetus).  Make sure to explain (1) why false beliefs are a problem according to Plato, (2) how, generally, he tries to solve this problem, and (3) whether he feels satisfied with this answer.

2.) Briefly outline the reasons offered for supposing that Descartes' solution to external world skepticism in the Mediations is circular? Why would the so-called Cartesian Circle pose a problem for a solution to the external world?

3.) How does Wallis distinguish between propaganda and disinformation?