Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0170 - PhilosophyRelativismTruth

Is there such a thing as "objective" or "absolute" truth? Or is everything "relative" - to a particular individual, culture, language, or conceptual framework? What is truth, anyway? In this course, we will examine the nature of truth, knowledge, and value, and consider a range of challenges to the idea of "objective" or "absolute" truth. We will begin by examining solipsism, skepticism, and subjective relativism, and then spend the rest of the semester discussing various forms of relativism and realism (epistemological, moral, cultural, aesthetic, etc.). Reading texts by ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophers, we will try to sort out strong from weak arguments for various versions of realism and relativism.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend approximately 6 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.