NOTE: Course information changes frequently, including Methods of Instruction. Please revisit these pages periodically for the most recent and up-to-date course information.

Is it possible that how things “really” or “truly” are is very different from how they appear to us? Could it be, for example, that the “real world” in which we believe ourselves to live is actually a computer program, á la The Matrix? If not, then how can we know that this is not the case – what is our evidence or justification for ruling out, with certainty, such a scenario? What, if any, are the implications of skeptical scenarios for more ordinary knowledge – what, if anything, can we, as believers aiming at knowledge, learn from such apparently fantastic and improbable hypotheses? And would it make any ethical difference – would our lives be better or worse off, and in what ways – if we actually are living in the Matrix?

In attempting to answer these questions, we read selections from philosophical classics such as Plato’s Republic and René Descartes’ Meditations, as well as articles by contemporary philosophers David Mitsuo Nixon and Jim Pryor.

This course has three aims: 1) to introduce students to key themes in philosophy, particularly metaphysics and epistemology, and in so doing to show how an apparently abstruse discipline is of surprising relevance to our lives; 2) to provide students with essential tools for understanding the nature of logical reasoning and evaluating arguments; 3) to sharpen students’ abilities to express themselves clearly and cogently, in writing and especially in speaking.

Beyond thoughtful reading and active participation, students are expected to complete several short and informal writing exercises, in part as a warm-up for a longer concluding reflection on key course themes.