Syllabus
Week 1
Introduction
Ancient philosophy
  Introduction: Reason is the tool that allows us to know the reality of the world.  

To watch: Introduction to Epistemology (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: How would you define the two notions in this course: « reality » and « illusion »?  
Week 2
Reality is a reflection of the Idea or the Idea is a function of reality
  Text 1: Idealism, Plato, Republic (375 B. C.)
Text 2: Realism, Aristotle, Metaphysics (350 B. C.)
Text 3: Skepticism, Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism (200 B. C.)  

To watch: Realism and Anti-Realism | Philosophy Glossary (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: Explain why Plato is described as an « idealist » and Aristotle as a « realist ». Explain also how Sextus proposes a third way.  
Week 3
Medieval Philosophy
The thing exists in itself, or the word denotes things
  Text 1: Realism, Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion (1078)
Text 2: The Thomist approach, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (1274)
Text 3: Nominalism, Duns Scotus, Philosophical writings (1303)  

To watch: What is Nominalism? | Philosophy Glossary (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: Why, in your opinion, does each of the authors of the week include the problem of the existence of God in his epistemology – theory of knowledge?    
Week 4
Focus: René Descartes (1596-1650)
  Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)Meditations 1-3  

To watch: Descartes Meditation I – Of the things which may be brought into Doubt (youtube.com)   Personal reflection: According to Descartes, why is radical doubt necessary to build stable knowledge?  
Week 5
Modern Philosophy
Knowledge is gained through logic or received through the senses
  Text 1: Sensualism, Hobbes, Leviathan (1641)
Text 2: Empiricism, Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690)
Text 3: Rationalism, Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748)    

To watch: Where does knowledge come from? (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: Do the authors agree on the source of the knowledge? If not, how do their views differ?  
Week 6
Focus: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
   An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784)  

To watch: Beginner’s Guide to Kant’s Metaphysics & Epistemology | Philosophy Tube (youtube.com)   Personal reflection: Provide a summary of Kant’s essay and explain how the author understands the progression from illusion to reality.  
Week 7
Contemporary Philosophy
Only matter exists or the world has an existence outside our representations
  Text 1: Idealism, Hegel, Science of Logic (1812)
Text 2: The positivist approach, Comte, A General Views of Positivism, (1830-42).
Text 3: Materialism, Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-criticism, (1909)  

To watch: What is Positivism? (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: According to each author, what comes first, matter or mind/spirit? Can we know what is beyond matter?    
Week 8
Focus: Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002)
  Truth and Method (1960)  

To watch: What is Hermeneutics? (youtube.com)  
Personal reflection: Is it necessary to get rid of prejudices in order to understand?  
Quick Survey: please fill it out; it is for the next generation!   
Week 9
  End of the class