PHIL 401(F) Senior Seminar: Truth and Rationality
Humans take pride in being rational animals: we define ourselves, in no small part, by our capacity to offer and evaluate reasons in support of our theoretical and practical commitments. The attempt to justify our beliefs and practices makes us concerned with the truth. What we should think and how we should live depend upon what is true about the world and ourselves. But what is the truth, and how can we know it? What are the criteria of rational belief and action? These questions, which have defined philosophy since its inception, remain central to, and hotly contested within, every area of philosophical inquiry. This seminar will begin with some of the best and most influential contemporary work on truth and rationality. Students will then have the opportunity to pursue the particular aspects of these general themes that are of greatest interest to them. Students will be responsible for presentations on the assigned readings, and for the development of a final paper involving independent research.
Format: seminar. Requirements: several short assignments, final paper, attendance and participation.
Enrollment limited to senior Philosophy majors.
Hour: DUDLEY