Knowing What We Know

Catalog description

This course examines the role of knowledge claims in everyday judgement. Beginning with philosophical and historical perspectives on what it means to know (epistemology) we will discuss the nature of mathematical and scientific approaches to knowledge and understanding; the role of theory in knowledge construction in all disciplines; assessments of statistical uncertainty, especially as it pertains to prediction; and the extent to which “reading” data in the Sciences is analogous to reading texts in the Humanities. These subjects will be explored in the context of societal issues of contemporary import and forefront research questions from a number of different fields.