We believe that we know some facts about the world that extend beyond the reach of our immediate sensory perception. Our immediate sensory perception doesn’t reach to events that happened in the past, to events that are happening now in remote places, and to events that will happen in the future. Our immediate sensory perception is also limited when it comes to the entities postulated by scientists, such as sub-atomic particles and black holes. Yet we still believe that we have some sort of indirect knowledge about unobservable events and entities. Do we really have such knowledge? And if so, how do we acquire it? These are epistemological questions. Epistemology literally means “theory of knowledge.” Epistemologists study the nature and origin of knowledge, the possibility of acquiring knowledge, and ways of doing so. Questions concerning the existence of certain entities are metaphysical questions. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality. Some typical metaphysical questions include: Is there a God? Do we have a mind or a soul? Is the soul immortal? Do we have free will? This course introduces students to these two areas of inquiry within philosophy. We will read and discuss classical as well as contemporary philosophical texts. We will also discuss case studies that will help us appreciate the importance of epistemological and metaphysical questions and their relevance to some current issues, such as the Evolution-Creationism debate.

Reading Selections

 Required Reading
o Required reading selections are available on Bb under “course materials.”
o You are required to read the assigned readings before each class.
o Some handouts will be distributed in class.
o Those who prefer to use a textbook may buy Philosophical Horizons: Introductory Readings, eds., Cahn & Eckert (Thomson Wadsworth, 2006).

 Recommended Reading
o The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP): http://plato.stanford.edu/
o The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP): http://www.iep.utm.edu/