IDS 4933 Honors Ways of Knowing
Spring 2015

Prof. Warren McGovern
Prof.  Mark Tunick 



Description: What is it to know rather than merely believe or have faith in something? How do we know that the external world really exists? How does an evolutionary biologist know that the theory of evolution is true and creationism is false? How does a social scientist know why crime rises or falls? How does the historian know that the Holocaust really happened?  Do they have knowledge in the same way that a mathematician does? How does one know that certain actions are morally wrong, or that a work of art is great, or inferior? We consider the criteria by which people in different academic disciplines justify claims that they know something, or have expertise, and we confront claims by skeptics that we can not really know anything but only believe. This is a 1 credit course fulfilling the Honors College Critical Inquiry Seminar (team-taught) requirement.

Requirements:
Grading will be based on participation in class discussions (25%), 2 short papers of 2-3 pages each (25% each=50%), and a number of brief assignments or quizzes (25%). Each unexcused absence beyond 1 will result in a 1/3 grade reduction for participation. Missed in-class assignments can't be made up. Students should take their own notes of each of the readings and bring these to class. You may use your notes for the in-class assignments.
Reading listed for each day should be done prior to that day's class. Be sure to bring to each class the reading for that day's class.
Students agree to adhere to the honor code, at http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/academics_honor_code.htm.  While you are encouraged to discuss the course material with each other, all assignments must be entirely your own work. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism or a violation of the honor code, consult with me beforehand.

Office Hours:
For McGovern: tbd in HC 162, or arrange a specific time to meet by emailing warren.mcgovern@fau.edu
For Tunick: in HC 133; you may drop by, or arrange a specific time to meet by emailing tunick@fau.edu

Required Texts: Readings will be available at the course Blackboard site.

Class meets Tuesdays 11-11:50 in SR 283.

I. Introduction: knowledge, belief, faith: How is knowing that something is true different than believing it is true? Are convictions based on belief or faith and not knowledge less defensible, and if so, what follows from that?

1/6. Plato's Cave
Rdg: Plato: Republic, 514a-517a; and Meno, 97a-98b (handout) (4 pages)

1/13. Faith vs Knowledge: Russell's skepticism
Rdg: Bertrand Russell, "Why I am not a Christian" (in Why I am Not a Christian, pp. 3-23)(21 pages)

II. What is scientific knowing? What distinguishes science from pseudoscience and superstition? It is widely thought that science provides an objective, true account of reality through rigorous observation and methods; that it is immune to political and social influences; that the validity of scientific theories, such as of what the universe is made of, or of how the dinosaurs became extinct, depends not on the subjective preferences of scientists, but only on whether the theory accurately captures reality. In this section we consider proponents and critics of this view.

1/20. Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience
Rdg: Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things, Prologue (pp. 1-9), chs. 4 (pp. 65-72), ch. 6 (pp. 88-98)(28 pages)
Online: Search for video of alleged autopsy of "Roswell Alien" (Warning: the video may show disturbing images)
Recommended: The Sokal Hoax Controversy

1/27. Determining who is an expert
Rdg: David Freedman, Wrong (chs. 2, 5, 9)(76 pages)

2/3. Scientific knowing: the experimental method; correlation vs causation
Rdg: Rudolf Carnap, "The Experimental Method" (3 pages); N.B. Watts, "Observational data do not establish cause and effect" (1 page) (4 pages total)

2/10. Science and power: Feminist and Postcolonial critiques of science
Rdg: T. B. Macaulay, 'Minute on Indian Education', excerpt (1835) (3 pages); excerpts from Sandra Harding, 'Is Science Multicultural?', Configurations 2(2):301-30 (1994)(10 pages); Gross, "Flights of Fancy"(6 pages) (19 pages total)

2/17. Case study: Evolution vs Creationism
Rdg: Stephen Jay Gould,  "Evolution as Fact and Theory," in Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, online (6 pages); Phillip E. Johnson, Darwin on Trial, chapters 5-6 (23 pages) (29 pages total)
Recommended: Gould, "Hooking Leviathan by its Past," ch. 28 in Dinosaur in a Haystack, online.

III. Philosophical Accounts of Knowing:  How do we know the external world really exists?  In this section, we think about what we mean when we say we know, rather than merely believe. Can a computer know, or think? Is there only one true way of knowing the world, or are worlds constructed, and constructed differently depending on one's language, culture, social class, or gender?

2/24. Ludwig Wittgenstein on 'certainty'
Rdg: Wittgenstein, On Certainty, Pars. 1-12, 20-35, 41-50, 77-86, 92-106, 108, 125-6 (10 pages)
For those interested: Moore's proof that he knows his hand is really there (to which Wittgenstein responds) is in G.E. Moore, "Proof of an external world" (1939)(Available under BB readings); Study guide to assist you with Moore's essay should you choose to read it, online

3/2. No Class due to spring break

3/10.Wittgenstein, continued
Rdg: Wittgenstein, On Certainty, Pars. 141-4, 163-7, 204-10, 246-53, 310-15, 333-34, 421-23, 444-49, 464-7, 600-16, 651-62 (11 pages)

3/17. Can computers think?
Rdg: A.M. Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," Mind 59:433-60 (1950) (search jstor)--omit section 5 (439-442) (24 pages)
For those interested: John Searle, 'Chinese Room Argument', online

3/24. Knowing in mathematics
Rdg: Kleiner, Rigor and Proof in Mathematics, excerpts (BB); "Logic" from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, excerpts (BB)
Assignment One Due


IV. Knowing in the social sciences: Social scientists study not atoms or planets, but human agents with intentions. Are the natural sciences an appropriate model for studying human behavior? Can human behavior be predicted like we predict the motion of billiard balls? How do we judge among competing theories in the social sciences?

3/31. Evolutionary explanations of human behavior
Rdg: Silverman and Eals, "Sex Differences in Spatial Abilities: Evolutionary Theory and Data," in Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby eds., The Adapted Mind (1992)(16 pages)

4/7. Using statistical regressions: explaining crime rates
Rdg: John Donohue III and Steven Levitt, "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime," Quarterly Journal of Economics 116(2):379-420 (May 2001)(41 pages)

4/14. Historical knowing: How we know the holocaust happened
Rdg: Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things, pp. 188-90, and ch. 14 (33 pages)
Holocaust photos

V. Aesthetic and moral knowing: Are judgments about beauty, or what is moral, purely subjective--a matter of personal taste? --or can there be knowledge and expertise in formulating such judgments?

4/21: No class due to reading day

4/28. Aesthetic and moral knowing
Rdg: Rothstein, "Dissecting a Masterpiece" (New York Times, Dec. 30, 2000), online
Shostakovich String Quartet 8 sample (mp3)

Assignment Two due Friday 5pm, April 24

Additional notes:
Policy on Accommodations: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students who require reasonable accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) -- SR 110 (561-799-8010) – and follow all OSD procedures.

Academic Integrity Policy: Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Academic dishonesty is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with the university mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any other. Academic dishonesty is also destructive of the university community, which is grounded in a system of mutual trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Harsh penalties are associated with academic dishonesty. For more information, see University Regulation 4.001 and http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html

Classroom Etiquette Policy: In order to enhance and maintain a productive atmosphere for education, personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones and pagers, are to be disabled in class sessions.

-----------------------------------------
Updated 4-9-15.