Hocbigg - Epistemology
Contents
Summary
The Epistemology curriculum is a complete education in Epistemology using online materials.
Organization
This repository is organized into three main components:
- Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
- Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;
- Projects: support learning through practical application throughout the curriculum.
Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.
- For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
- The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
- Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.
Practical work is integrated through the Projects section and may be undertaken alongside coursework.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
Communities
- Forums:
- Subreddits:
- Discord servers:
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
-
Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):
Curriculum
- Foundational Tools for Epistemology
- Core Epistemology: Knowledge and Belief
- Sources and Structure of Justification
- Skepticism and Epistemic Limits
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
The following sections form the essential backbone of epistemology. Study them in this exact order:
Foundational Tools for Epistemology
Core Epistemology: Knowledge and Belief
Sources and Structure of Justification
Skepticism and Epistemic Limits
These four sections give you the central questions, classic debates, and basic conceptual vocabulary that almost every serious discussion in epistemology builds upon.
Foundational Tools for Epistemology
| Subject | Book/Text | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Introduction to Philosophy | Philosophy: The Basics – Nigel Warburton | Introduction to Philosophy: God, Knowledge and Consciousness – MITx (edX) |
| 2. Logic and Argumentation | forall x: An Introduction to Formal Logic (Open Textbook) | Logic I – MIT OpenCourseWare |
| 3. Critical Thinking and Reason Evaluation | Logical and Critical Thinking – University of Auckland (FutureLearn) |
Core Epistemology: Knowledge and Belief
| Subject | Book/Text | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 4. What Is Knowledge? | SEP: “Knowledge” (note: main epistemology entry links to related; see also "The Analysis of Knowledge") | Theory of Knowledge – MIT OpenCourseWare |
| 5. The Analysis of Knowledge | - SEP: “The Analysis of Knowledge” - Gettier, JTB, and Post-Gettier Theories |
Sources and Structure of Justification
| Subject | Book/Text | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Sources of Knowledge | SEP: “Sources of Knowledge” (including: Perception, Memory, Reason, Testimony) | |
| 7. Epistemic Justification | - SEP: “Epistemic Justification” - SEP: Reliabilist Epistemology - SEP: Virtue Epistemology |
|
| 8. Epistemic Norms and Rational Belief | SEP: “Epistemic Norms” |
Skepticism and Epistemic Limits
| Subject | Book/Text | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Skepticism | SEP: “Skepticism” (Cartesian, Inductive, and Contemporary Forms) | |
| 10. Responses to Skepticism | - IEP: Contextualism - IEP: Fallibilism - SEP: The Analysis of Knowledge |