Reality and Illusion

Catalog description

In this course, students will engage in a journey of inquiry into how we can think about the relation between existence and knowledge. Disagreements about what counts as ?real' can have serious implications for the way we live. Some think the senses best inform us about what is real; others claim it is reason that does this; still others propose our knowledge of reality derives from divine revelation or religious belief; and some see reality as a product of a malleable social agreement. Together, members of the class will address competing notions of reality, illusion, truth, evidence, opinion, fact, and fiction. Are communities reliable guides to what is real, or should thinkers who wish to know what is real strike out on their own? Can we ever really know? If so, how can we acquire knowledge? Can fictional works tell or reveal truth? Can truth give rise to fiction? The course will not provide answers to this set of questions, but will introduce students to a series of conceptual approaches to conceiving the nature of reality and accounting for our access to or participation in it.