Mar 12, 2026

2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog

PS 235 How Do We Know What We Know? Truth, Media, Politics

(4 Credits)
(Also listed as PL 235)

This course combines epistemology, philosophy of science, and the ethics of journalism. The focus is on the relationship between the problems philosophers discuss when they think of issues of truth and knowledge and the problems journalists have as they go about their profession. How do voters know what they are getting when they vote for a candidate—in an era of spin rooms, sophisticated, poll-driven ads, “gotcha” questions—and when the voting public is segmenting into ever narrower politically defined niches?