Subject Area: Philosophy

This course is an introduction to philosophical puzzles concerning the nature of belief, knowledge and the mind. We begin by considering the nature of belief, and specifically its connection to truth. It is a truism that beliefs are correct if and only if they are true. But what does this tell us about the nature of belief, or about the ways in which we form and abandon beliefs? From the topic of belief we move onto the nature of knowledge. Traditionally, knowledge has been taken to require something over and above merely true belief: a lucky guess, for example, does not count as knowledge. But what is this extra element, that distinguishes a lucky guess from knowledge? General metaphysical questions concerning the nature of the mind will also be discussed.