16035
Seminar
WiSe 22/23: Modal Knowledge (Englisch)
Samuel Boardman
Comments
This seminar gives an in-depth introduction to recent philosophical work about our acquisition of knowledge about possibilities and necessities. We have lots of knowledge of what might and must’ve been. You might’ve taken a job in a fast food restaurant. But you couldn’t have been a burger. Given that you can’t peer into other possible worlds with a telescope, how do you know these modal claims? Philosophers have a special interest in this question since philosophical argumentation often involves thought experiments that claim to give us insight into what is and isn’t possible. The rationalist tradition looks to cognitive capacities likeimagination to give us knowledge of what might and must’ve been. If you can imagine some proposition, then you know it’s possible. If you can’t, you know it’s impossible. But some challenges arise for that tradition. Doesn’t it confuse our cognitive limitations with the limitations of the modal universe? We look at recent approaches that appeal to essences, perception of modal facts, empiricist methods, linguistics, psychology, and more in an attempt to overcome these issues. close
16 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Mon, 2022-10-17 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-10-24 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-10-31 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-11-07 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-11-14 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-11-21 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-11-28 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-12-05 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2022-12-12 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-01-02 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-01-09 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-01-16 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-01-23 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-01-30 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-02-06 16:00 - 18:00
Mon, 2023-02-13 16:00 - 18:00