Quick links
1240 Social Sciences and Humanities
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: (530) 752-0607
Fax: (530) 752-8964
Illustration of Goldman’s barn façade case
Recent News
- The second paper topic has been assigned.
This is the home page of G. J. Mattey’s Philosophy 102, Theory of Knowledge, for Spring Quarter, 2016.
The Course
Philosophy 102 is a survey of the most important positions and arguments in the branch of philosophy known as “theory of knowledge.”
General Catalog Course Description
Analysis of the concept of knowledge. The relation between knowledge, belief and truth. Development of foundationalist, coherentist and externalist theories of justified belief. Examination of skepticism.
The Topic
We will begin the course with a survey of the main “projects” in contemporary theory of knowledge. These include the methodology of theorizing about knowledge, the logic of knowledge, the use of ‘knows’ in ordinary language, the analysis of knowledge, standards for knowledge, how knowledge is obtained, and whether we have any knowledge at all. The remainder of the course will be an in-depth look at the language of knowledge, how knowledge might be analyzed, and whether we have knowledge of the existence of an external world.