The Different Theories of Knowledge Skepticism
Instructions
- See the general instructions in the Essay Discussion Instructionssection of the course menu. Once you choose which question you’d like to write about, write your essay and post it in the discussion board and also save it as a Word document.
- To create your post, click the blue Create Thread button. To be able to read and respond to others’ posts, you will first need to publish your own post. Your first post is the one that will be graded–a blank post WILL be graded if it is your first post in the board. You can save your post as a draft, but it will not be published for students to view, nor will it be queued for grading until you click the Submitbutton.
- When you refresh the board, after you publish your post, it will allow you to view everyone’s posts. If you hover your cursor at the bottom of a post, the button to reply to that student’s post will appear.
- Use your course texts to help you respond to the topic, and when you quote and summarize from the course texts, include information about the page reference.
- You are discouraged from using additional sources. If you do choose to use an outside source, be sure to cite your source, just as you do when you use the course texts. If you use a quotation or an example from a website, cite the website’s url and the date accessed.
- Once you are ready for your classmates to read it, post the thread containing your essay. Then go to the TurnItIn dropbox section here in Blackboard and post your Word document into the dropbox. You do not need to include your response to another student in the file that you upload to TurnItIn.
- Finally, read your classmates’ posts. A complete assignment includes your written response to at least one essay besides your own–part of your score is based on your reply to at least one of your classmate’s posts. It should be a meaningful reply that continues the discussion, points out something good about the post, and makes a constructive suggestion for improvement.
Topics for your Essay, Choose A or B
Essay Length tips–To answer these topics completely, it takes about 2 pages—8-10 paragraphs. Use the topic questions and the scoring rubric to see if your draft responds fully to all parts of the question. A complete, thoughtful answer is more important than word count.
Topic B
Describe the theory of knowledge called skepticism. Consider the skeptic’s charge that we can never be confident about the reliability of our normal sources of knowledge (perceptions, memory, introspection, and reasoning.) Describe why and how, for each of the 4 sources mentioned, the source is unreliable. Use examples to show your understanding.
If a source of knowledge is unreliable, it means these sources can trick us into believing falsehoods. Does it follow from the fact that we are sometimes mistaken when we rely on these sources that we are always mistaken? In other words, once we admit is possible that we are mistaken, does that mean that we need to admit that we might never be correct? How would you respond to the skeptic?