| Kommentar |
Knowing the history of something can help us understand how it works, and in particular what its function or purpose is. For that reason, philosophers have often tried to shed light on philosophical concepts by tracing or constructing their genealogy: political arrangements, morality, and truth. But there are limits to how much these philosophical genealogies can tell us. Moreover, the same kind of genealogical inquiry can be used to undermine claims to knowledge, by presenting explanations of our belief in terms of their causal history which compete with explanations in terms of justification. In this seminar, we are interested in what philosophical genealogies can contribute to our understanding of epistemic concepts. Of special interest to us is the question of how important testimonial transmission is to the concept of knowledge. Is, for instance, the identification of reliable informants what the concept of knowledge is for? Attention will also be paid to the function of epistemic concepts which are sometimes thought not to be identical to or reducible to knowledge-that, as e.g. understanding, knowledge-how, and wisdom. Readings will include selections from Craig's Knowledge and the State of Knowledge, Hannon's What's the point of Knowledge?, as well as more general literature on philosophical genealogies by (e.g.) Nietzsche, Srinivasan, and Queloz.
The seminar will be run jointly by Joseph Bjelde (HU Berlin) and Toomas Lott (Tartu), with students from both the HU and Tartu participating. For that reason, it will meet twice a week for the first half of the SoSe, starting a week before the Vorlesungszeit, with one of these sessions online for Berliners: from April 11 to May 26, Mondays 14-16 (in-person, if the pandemic permits) and Thursdays 15-17 (online for Berliners). Participants should sign up for the course on moodle (pw: schwatzen) by April 1, 2022. The main discussion language of the seminar will be English, but participants who feel more comfortable participating in discussion in German are welcome to do so. |
