PHIL3820 Epistemology
Midterm Essay Assignment
Topic
Choose one of the topics below:
1. In Laurence BonJour’s chapter “The Concept of Knowledge” (from Week 2), he mentioned
the proposal of adding a fourth condition to the traditional, justified-true-belief conception of
knowledge, in response to the Gettier problem. The condition states that it is not an accident, in
relation to the justification of the belief, that the belief is true (p. 41). BonJour then threw doubt
on this condition on the next page, suggesting that this condition can never be fully satisfied
unless the belief is guaranteed to be true by the justification.
In Peter Klein’s article “A Proposed Definition of Propositional Knowledge” (from Week 2),
the proposed fourth condition is motivated by a so-called “felicitous-coincidence principle”,
which is akin to the above non-accident requirement suggested by BonJour. Write an essay to
analyze whether BonJour’s criticism of the non-accident condition can be adapted to challenge
Klein’s formulation of the fourth condition, and if so, how Klein might respond to the challenge.
2. Read the attached excerpt from Laurence BonJour’s chapter on the problem of induction
(including his characterization of induction and his proposal to address the problem of induction).
Write an essay to analyze BonJour’s proposed solution to the problem of induction, in relation to
some of Wesley Salmon’s points (from Week 4). What is BonJour’s attempted justification of
induction, and how does it respond to (Salmon’s formulation of) Hume’s dilemma argument?
How is BonJour’s proposal related to some of the responses to the problem of induction
surveyed by Salmon? Can Salmon’s criticisms of those responses be adapted to criticize
BonJour’s proposal? What do you think is a major difficulty with BonJour’s proposal?
Instructions
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The essay must be written in English and is expected to be at least 1000 words long. It is
due on 17 March 2024.
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Think carefully about the organization of your essay. Begin with an introduction of the
purpose and plan of the essay, and end with a brief conclusion.
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Use your own words if possible and avoid long quotations.
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For this assignment, you are welcome but not required to consult sources other than the class
materials. Whenever you quote or borrow ideas from other sources or from the class
materials, make sure to include clear references, and make sure to place quotations in
quotation marks! (For reminders of how to avoid plagiarism, please consult
https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.)
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Please submit your work to VeriGuide: https://academic2.veriguide.org/cuhk/main.
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PHIL3820 Epistemology
Marking rubrics
The essay carries a maximum of 25 marks, which break down as follows:
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Quality of exposition (7 marks)
Is your exposition of the relevant points in the readings accurate and clear? Does it include
too many details that are irrelevant to the main purpose of your essay?
•
Quality of analysis/argument (10 marks)
Is your analysis of the connections and/or differences between viewpoints clear, plausible,
and supported by reasons? Are your criticisms relevant and cogent?
•
Organization (5 marks):
Does your essay have a clear structure, with proper transitions between different parts and
a clear logical flow within each part?
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Language (3 marks)
Are there too many grammatical mistakes or typos that seriously hinder comprehension?
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