Handout:

Plato, Selections from the Meno and the Theaetetus on the definition of ‘knowledge’ (handout)

Russell, The Problems of Philosophy ch. 13 (handout)

JSTOR:

Roderick M. Chisholm, “Epistemic Statements and the Ethics of Belief,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 16 (1956), pp. 447-460 (on JSTOR at 2104247)

Edmund L. Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?,” Analysis, vol. 23 (1963), pp. 121-123 (on JSTOR at 3326922)

Michael Clark, “Knowledge and Grounds: A Comment on Mr. Gettier’s Paper,” Analysis, vol. 24 (1963), pp. 46-48 (on JSTOR at 3327068)

John Turk Saunders and Narayan Champawat, “Mr. Clark’s Definition of ‘Knowledge’,” Analysis, vol. 25 (1964), pp. 8-9 (on JSTOR at 3326965)

Alvin I. Goldman, “A Causal Theory of Knowing,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 64 (1967), pp. 357-372 (on JSTOR at 2024268)

—, “Discrimination and Perceptual Knowledge,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 73 (1976), pp. 771-791 (on JSTOR at 2025679)

Keith Lehrer and Thomas Paxson, Jr., “Knowledge: Undefeated Justified True Belief,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 66 (1969), pp. 225-237 (on JSTOR at 2024435)

Alvin Plantinga, “Epistemic Justification,” Noûs, vol. 20 (1986), pp. 3-18 (on JSTOR at 2215273)

Laurence Bonjour, “The Coherence Theory of Empirical Knowledge,” Philosophical Studies, vol. 30 (1976), pp. 281-312 (on JSTOR at 4319097)

Ernest Sosa, “Beyond Scepticism, to the Best of our Knowledge,” Mind, vol. 97 (1988), pp. 153-188 (on JSTOR at 2255164)

Timothy Williamson, “Is Knowing a State of Mind?,” Mind, vol. 104 (1995), pp. 533-565 (on JSTOR at 2254641)

Keith DeRose, “Assertion, Knowledge, and Context,” The Philosophical Review, vol. 111 (2002), pp. 167-203 (on JSTOR at 3182618)

Requirements: (1) Two papers (the first paper about 3 pp. and the second paper 6-8 pp.); I will suggest topics but you will have substantial freedom of choice. (2) Regular, prepared, and active participation in class discussion (perhaps including occasional brief writing assignments or assigned tasks in discussion). Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 25% and 55%, respectively, for the papers and 20% for class participation.