UWS 32A — Truth or Truthiness

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This course introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. The topic of this course is contemporary notions of “truth value.” As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
“Truth, Even unto Its Innermost Parts”—Whose truth, which parts? What’s behind the contemporary notion that “the truth” can’t be known because—in truth—only “truths” are there? Is it quantum physics and an undead cat? Internet deceit? Postmodern hangover? Through a wind-whirl reading tour, we’ll use our exploration of commentary new and old to sharpen academic reading, writing, and critical reasoning skills in exercises ranging from “unpacking” arguments, to pre-writing, brainstorming, graphic-organizing, speed-drafting, reverse outlining, line editing and big-picture revision. Readings on our theme include poetry—samplings from Dickinson, Yeats, Stevens; philosophy—Plato, Sartre (bad faith), Simon Blackburn (Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed), Sissela Bok (Lying), Richard Rorty (relativism), Stephen Colbert (truthiness); science, psychology and neurology—Hume and Kant —limits of empirical knowledge claims; Karl Popper--falsifiability theory of knowledge; Darwin--epistemological status of consensual agreement about knowledge claims; history—Tolstoy’s “confluence of infinitesimals” notion; and literature—Laurie Moore’s Anagrams.
Gordon Ruesch

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