World Epistemologies
Code: 107229 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1500086 Social and Cultural Anthropology | FB | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- David Casacuberta Sevilla
- Email:
- david.casacuberta@uab.cat
Teachers
- Andreu Ballus Santacana
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites
Objectives and Contextualisation
The central objective of the course is to introduce students to the major epistemological traditions of the world, starting from recent developments in Western epistemology to recognize our frame of reference as what it is, a situated and not culturally neutral framework. Emphasis is placed on understanding the differences and specificities between the major Greek, Indian, and Chinese epistemological traditions, and on problematizing their relationships with the epistemologies of other cultures and periods. It also aims to analyze how knowledge of these frameworks enriches current issues in globalized epistemology.
Learning Outcomes
- CM01 (Competence) Interpret current and past world events from social and humanities disciplines.
- CM03 (Competence) Adequately transmit information, ideas and arguments from the social and human sciences in order to explain an anthropological fact.
- KM02 (Knowledge) Recognise and integrate the basic concepts of related disciplines in the analysis of social phenomena.
- KM03 (Knowledge) Interpret current world events incorporating the diversity of geographical, historical, philosophical and sociological perspectives.
- SM01 (Skill) Describe social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way from related sciences, taking into account the complexity of the factors involved, their causes and effects.
- SM04 (Skill) Adequately use the basic language of related sciences in both oral and written expression.
Content
1. Contemporary epistemology in its framework: the roots of the Gettier problem in the specificity of Western culture
2. Society, virtues, and justice in epistemology: the reason for late arrivals in hegemonic epistemology
3. The Greco-Roman and Christian roots of Western epistemology
4. Vedic-rooted epistemology: the Nyaya school and its impact
5. Foundations of Chinese epistemology: Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism
6. The sociocognitive framework of the development of the three great traditions: oikos, griha, and jia.
7. Islamic epistemologies: Avicenna, Al-Ghazali, and the development of Islamic philosophy
8. Colonial epistemologies vs. “indigenous” epistemologies: African, Afro-Caribbean, and Native American traditions
9. The feminist question in situated epistemologies
10. The praxis of epistemology in a globalized world: the impact of modernity, postmodernity, and technology
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Autonomous work | 70 | 2.8 | CM01, CM03, KM02, KM03, SM01, SM04 |
| master classes | 50 | 2 | CM01, CM03, KM02, KM03 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Class debates | 22.5 | 0.9 | SM01, SM04 |
The course methodology will focus on rigorous and ongoing assessment of the subject:
Students will engage in comprehensive readings of strategic texts relevant to the subject matter, which they must prepare before scheduled discussion sessions. These texts will be accessible to students via the virtual campus one week prior to the class dedicated to collective discussion and text commentary.
Additionally, the course instructor will provide theoretical explanations of the key topics outlined in the curriculum.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test exams (2) | 50% (25%+25%) | 3.5 | 0.14 | CM01, CM03, KM02, KM03 |
| Written essay (X2) | 50% (25%+25%) | 4 | 0.16 | KM03, SM01, SM04 |
- The evaluation process includes three assessment activities distributed throughout the course: Exam (50%), Essay (40%), Oral presentation (10%).
- The virtual campus will be used to prepare the readings that will be discussed in class.
- At the time of each assessment activity, the professor will inform the students (via Moodle, so that there is an official record) about the procedure and the date for reviewing the grades.
- Students who do not achieve a passing grade in the average of the course must attend the remedial exam. If they do not attend, they will fail the course. To participate in the remedial exam, students must have been previously assessed in a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to at least 2/3 of the total grade. To participate in the remedial process, a minimum grade of 3.5 in the course average is required.
- Not evaluable: students who do not attend any assessment tests will receive a "Not evaluable."
- If the student commits any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment, this assessment will be graded with 0, regardless of any disciplinary process that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the assessments of the same course, the final grade for that course will be 0.
- If the tests cannot be taken in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weight) to the possibilities offered by UAB's virtual tools. Homework, activities, and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis, and/or discussions of exercises through Teams, etc. The professor will ensure that the student can access these or will offer alternative means within their reach.
Single assessment
The single assessment will consist of three written tests that will be conducted over the course of a week.
The first test will be a text commentary with a weight of 40% of the grade.
The second test will be a brief essay developing a course topic with a weight of 40% of the grade.
Thethird test will be a multiple-choice exam with a weight of 20% of the grade.
Bibliography
Gettier, E. (1963). ¿Es el conocimiento una creencia verdadera justificada? Theoría, 2(3), 319-323.
Goldman, A. I. (1999). Knowledge in a Social World. Oxford University Press.
Zagzebski, L. T. (1996). Virtues of the Mind: An Inquiry into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical Foundations of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press.
Plató. (2010). Fedó (trad. Josep Vives i Solé). Edicions 62.
Fraser, N. (2008). Escalas de Justicia: Reimaginando el espacio político en un mundo globalizado. Herder Editorial.
Chakrabarti, K. (1999). Classical Indian Philosophy of Induction: The Nyaya Viewpoint. Lexington Books.
Feng, Y. (2002). Breve Historia de la Filosofía China. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Graham, A. C. (1978). Later Mohist Logic, Ethics and Science. Chinese University Press.
Nasr, S. H. (2001). Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. SUNY Press.
Wiredu, K. (1996). Cultural Universals and Particulars: An African Perspective. Indiana University Press.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books.
Cajete, G. (2000). Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.
Software
No specific software required
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |