1. Introduction to the Philosophy of Knowledge Module
Bruce Edmonds MRes Induction Week
(slides available on web address at end)
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2. Introduction(s) Me - Bruce Edmonds
You - Please briefly introduce yourselves, your “rough area of study”, plus (optionally) one thing that a friend might say about you
Purpose of this session:
To introduce you to the purpose and form of the Philosophy of Knowledge module
To get you thinking about what you have let yourself in for!
To start you thinking!
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3. A Thesis is...
...a (novel, sound, sufficiently significant) contribution to knowledge
That is, your “job” is to learn how to discover new significant knowledge in a sound way and write this up for anyone to read!
So what is this “knowledge” stuff that you will be producing for society?
Can we rely on it?
How can we rely on it?
Are there different kinds of knowledge?
etc. etc.
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4. To make it “easier”... Academics disagree about everything, including:
the nature of knowledge
whether this is relative to culture?
whether this is a reflection of an independent reality?
etc. etc.
Each (sub-)field has its own disputes and answers about these questions...
...indeed they don’t only differ as to what the answers are but even what the questions are!
It is a complex mess!
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5. Why is this?
Partly it is due to clever “under-cutting” moves by academics...
...partly due to the different natures of what they are studying...
...and partly due to the different traditions and histories of different academic fields
but (in my opinion) it is mostly due to the fact that anything social is very very difficult to understand and study!
This, of course, is your task
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6. The Purpose of the PoK Module is...
To get you thinking about these issues
To make you aware of some of the difficulties underlying knowledge
To get you reading relevant literature with philosophical leanings...
...and to understand it (or some of it)
To prepare you for some of the questions and objections you may encounter
To produce better knowledge
...whatever that means! ☺
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7. Philosophy is... About thinking about such issues
and, crucially, arguing about them (at least in the Western Tradition)
It will not tell you the answers
but will make you aware of some of the possibilities, traditions and arguments
Will hopefully get you thinking critically about your own arguments and assumptions
Anticipating possible objections
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8. Example: Argument
An argument attempts to persuade other of the truth of a conclusion
Or otherwise justify such statements
It is what you might say in response to:
How do you know that?
I don’t believe that
Why should I belief that?
I disagree
Usually, taking the other to the conclusion you are defending in a series of steps
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9. Exercise 1: Judging arguments
In groups of two or three
Look at some of the arguments on the sheet, and decide for each :
If you think it is a good or bad argument
Whether you agree with its conclusion
Whether you agree with the steps leading to the conclusion
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10. Example of unpacking an argument
If humans were sufficiently intelligent, and having such intelligence meant they would inevitably develop technolgies that destroyed the world, then they would realise this and hence find a way of limiting their own intelligence, for example by brain surgery.
Humans being sufficiently intelligent
Intelligence means would destroy world
(Humans would wish for their own survival above all)
Humans would destroy the world (due to intelligence)
Humans would work out that their intelligence threatened their own survival
They would wish to deal with any threat to themselves
They would find a way to limit their intelligence (surgery being a particular way)
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11. Exercise 2: identifying parts of arguments
In groups of two or three…
Choose some of the example arguments on the sheet, and see if you can identify:
The Conclusion
Any assumptions (the starting points)
Intermediate steps (if any)
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12. Conclusion
It is a necessary part of becoming a PhD student that you learn to judge whether arguments presented to you are good or bad
The Goodness of an argument is separate from whether one agrees with its conclusion
These are not simple things to determine!
We will come back to the Western Tradition of Argument in the First Full PoK Session
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13. The PoK Module Is in two parts:
An introduction to the Western Tradition of Academic Thought, Argument and Critical Thinking (2 more full sessions)
An introduction to some of the main disputes in the philosophy of knowledge:
Rationalism vs. Empiricism
Realism vs. Constructivism
Positivism vs. Pragmatism
The Linguistic Turn
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14. The Assessment is... An 5000 word Essay
Which is basically a prototype of that part of your thesis that justifies your approach to knowledge and the assumptions behind this
This is due in the summer after the second set of PoK sessions
Do not worry about it before then!
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15. The End Bruce Edmonds bruce.edmonds.name Centre for Policy Modelling
cfpm.org
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
these slides are linked from
cfpm.org/mres
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