PY4606 Contemporary Epistemology

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable

To be confirmed.

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Prof J A Brown

Prof J A Brown
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Prof J Brown

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

Knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss. What we know - and what we don't know - is intimately connected to who we are, both collectively and individually. This module will explore the borderzones between epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy, focusing on three main issues. First, what is the epistemological significance of our race, gender, social class, or other identities? Second, what are the democratic significance of expert and citizen knowledge, and how is public discourse threatened by group polarization, ignorance or conspiracy theorising? Third, what tensions are there between our right to knowledge, and our right to privacy?

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS PY1012

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 x 2-hour lecture and 1 x 1-hour seminar.

Scheduled learning hours

55

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

252

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Evaluate the ways in which knowledge and ignorance have both ethical and political significance
  • Critically debate central ideas about varieties of epistemic injustice
  • Critically evaluate arguments about how our place in society helps determine what we know
  • Engage with ideas and arguments about the relationship between knowledge, debate and democracy
  • Evaluate philosophical arguments about privacy and epistemic paternalism
  • Articulate the ways in which philosophical reflection can be relevant to practical problems in society