Preference to freshmen. The universe is exceedingly complex and learning about it requires great cleverness and effort. Through reasoning, we humans can arrive at impressive and deep knowledge of our universe. But reason can also lead us into paradox and skeptical puzzles. We will look at a variety of skeptical arguments - Cartesian, Humean, Pyrrhonian, among others - and consider what sorts of challenges they raise for our use of reasoning to learn about our world.
3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
Preference to freshmen. The universe is exceedingly complex and learning about it requires great cleverness and effort. Through reasoning, we humans can arrive at impressive and deep knowledge of our universe. But reason can also lead us into paradox and skeptical puzzles. We will look at a variety of skeptical arguments - Cartesian, Humean, Pyrrhonian, among others - and consider what sorts of challenges they raise for our use of reasoning to learn about our world.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.