Epistemology and Metaphysics

Description

Our initial topic is a look back to the first bold exciting steps of modern epistemology and the work of a group of philosophers called the ‘British Empiricists’. From there we move forward in time to the Logical Positivists, a group of 20th century conceptual revolutionaries based in Vienna in the 1920s and 1930s. The positivists’ claim was that deep metaphysical statements, such as ‘I am a brain in a vat’ or ‘Everything is fated’ are meaningless. Then we move forwards again to the present and study various topics in modern epistemology and metaphysics. For example: What is science? Causation? Identity and personal identity?

In the second half of the course, we address the  black squiggles you are reading right now, which have an amazing property—they can change you from one state (ignorance) to another (knowledge). But how could mere marks on a computer screen do that? (To get a feel for how amazing this is, imagine showing the same black squiggles to a baby, or your pet dog!) The answer may seem simple: the squiggles carry meaning. But what is meaning?

In addition, we look at philosophy itself: Do philosophers have a specific philosophical ‘personality’? Does philosophy have a ‘diversity’ problem? Is epistemology based on parochial cultural concepts? We also consider the view, assumed by many philosophers (and psychologists), that what you can and do know depends on the kind of soul or mind that you have, and that this in turn depends on biology. From Aristotle to Baron-Cohen in the 21st century—the view is constant. Human males mostly use logic and human females empathy—and this is because even 21st century humans have Stone Age minds. But is all this true?