Epistemology for a Cosmopolitan World
with Prof Liam Kofi Bright (London)
There are lots of us, we're different from each other, and we disagree. What to do about that? In this course we'll be looking at how thinkers from various world traditions – but paying especially attention to the African (and African diaspora) tradition – have thought about the nature of knowledge, belief, and the rational adjudication of disagreements in light of our differences. We'll be thinking about such issues as: does who we are make a difference to what we can know? How do or should we decide who to trust? Given that we have to work together if we are to know more complicated things, how should we reward people for good contributions to knowledge seeking and punish people for bad? Can the quest for knowledge be separated from our moral and political judgements? I hope students will come away from this course with a deeper appreciation of the challenges and complexities of knowledge production in our diverse world.
