Knowledge, Rationality and Inquiry

Our work in this area is informed by problems arising from the situatedness of human cognition. On the one hand, we engage questions concerning truth, justification, the relation of fact and value, and the nature of rationality, and we explore such matters through and across various lines of inquiry, e.g., linguistic analysis, cognitive science, social theory, etc. On the other hand, we are interested in whether and how variables such as class, gender, and race influence epistemic practices, as well as the ways in which natural and social-scientific inquiry (alongside of reigning notions of rationality) impact current social and political realities.

Selected Courses

Topics in Feminist Epistemology
Seminar: Issues in Epistemology
Seminar: Dewey’s Logic
Critical Theory
Problems in Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Logic
Science, Technology and Gender

17th and 18th Century Philosophers (Descartes, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Kant)

Nineteenth Century Authors (Hegel; Nietzsche; Peirce; James)

Twentieth Century Authors (Wittgenstein; Gadamer; Habermas; Feyerabend; Quine; Putnam; Foucault; Rorty)

Philosophy Faculty in this Specialization

Mark Johnson
John Lysaker
Scott Pratt
Beata Stawarska
Ted Toadvine
Naomi Zack