PHPE408X

Cross-listed with PHIL418X. Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge and rational belief. Bayesian epistemology frames this study by centering not on full beliefs (like my belief that there is no chocolate on the moon) but instead on graded belief. This is for example what happens when we say that we are 80% confident that a certain party will win an election. Among the topics to be covered in the class are: the connection between degrees of belief and the mathematical theory of probability; the principles governing whether degrees of belief are rational; the principles whether agents respond appropriately to evidence; the role of degrees of belief in practical decision making. The approach in the class will be to present these topics without presupposing prior competence in epistemology.