Description
This introduction to episemology will survey readings, historical developments and methodological issues in theory of knowledge, with special attention to the scientific revolution of the 17th-18th centuries. Students will engage such issues as whether the experiential method of Western science is the only reliable way of knowing, or whether knowledge is socially construction influenced by gender, race, or class. This survey will explore whether scientific knowledge can best be understood as a relatively objective and value-neutral structure of verified truths about the natural world or is scientific knowledge an ongoing research program constructing an ever-changing world-view or paradigm. Recommended for majors in social science, natural and physical science, and philosophy and religion.