什麼是知識？為假的信念顯然不是知識。但知識是為真的信念嗎？對一件事的知識似乎不僅僅只是對這件事的信念恰巧為真。知識還必須包含理據嗎？什麼是理據？知識只是有理據的為真信念嗎？知識有終極的根基嗎？理據的來源是什麼？是部份來自經驗？還是完全來自其他信念？知識是相對的嗎？歸納法的理據是什麼？數學真理的理據又是什麼？這門課將介紹對於上述議題的各種哲學想法。

What is knowledge? It certainly is not false belief. But is it true belief? There seems to be more to knowing something than merely having a belief that happens to be true. Is this extra thing justification? What is justification? In this course, we will go through the works by various philosophers who present dramatically different conclusions concerning the following issues around justification. Is knowledge merely justified true beliefs? Does our knowledge have a foundation at all? Could it be that we had been living in Matrix? Are we really justified in believing in the way the world is? Assume the following: (1) I know that I have a (flesh-and-blood) body, and (2) I know that if I have a body then I am not something in Matrix. Does it follow that I know that I am not something in Matrix? Can the method of induction be justified in any way? What’s the structure of justification? Can our empirical beliefs be justified in some way by experiences? Is justification a relation merely among beliefs? Is a belief justified if and only if it is produced by a reliable belief-forming process? If not, what’s the requirement for being justified? Is it context-dependent whether an individual knows a proposition? Can mathematical truths be justified without appealing to sensory experience at all? If so, how would that work?