PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE SEMINAR, K. F a r k a s

Department of History and Philosophy of Science Eotvos University Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE SEMINAR (http://hps.elte.hu/seminar) ________________________________________________ 7 May 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language: English, except all participants speak Hungarian) K a t a l i n F a r k a s Philosophy, Central European University, Budapest The limits of knowledge This is a critical introduction into the ideas of Timothy Williamson's Knowledge and its limits (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000), a book which is considered by many as the most original and significant contribution to epistemology in the last few decades. Working on theories of knowledge has been a flourishing enterprise in the twentieth century. Various versions of foundationalism, coherentism, causal theories, reliabilism, subjunctive theories, contextualist theories - and no doubt other theories - have been defended and criticised with great erudition. Williamson's book breaks a new path in approaching questions of knowledge. Here are some of the main claims of the book: - knowing is - contrary to what most contemporary theories of knowledge hold - a state of mind - the state of knowing is unanalysable to further constituents - it is, to use Williamson's terminology, a prime condition - hence it is not possible to give necessary and sufficient conditions for knowing - Gettierology was a waste of time - the state of knowing is explanatory in actions just like states of beliefs and desires are The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó -- Laszlo E. Szabo Department of Theoretical Physics Department of History and Philosophy of Science Eotvos University, Budapest H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924 Home: (36-1) 200-7318 Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172 http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo