A view of Singleton Campus including Singleton Park and the beach, with the sea stretching into the horizon

Dr Rob Knowles

Lecturer in Philosophy, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations

r.f.knowles@swansea.ac.uk

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

About

Rob is a lecturer in philosophy at Swansea University. Previously, he held teaching posts at the University of Bristol, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, and Lancaster University. He completed a British Academy post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Leeds in 2019, having completed his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2015. His areas of research expertise are metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mathematics. He is particularly interested in how mathematics facilitates the representation and explanation of the physical world, what the subject matter of mathematics is, and how mathematical knowledge is possible.

Areas Of Expertise

Metaphysics
Epistemology
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Mathematics
Philosophy of Science

Taught Modules

HUP105 Critical Reasoning

This module introduces students to the core elements of critical reasoning: how to identify, construct and analyse arguments; what makes an argument valid and sound; common errors in reasoning; and the basics of propositional logic. In studying these topics, students will cultivate core critical reasoning skills and apply these in analysing real-world textual examples.
HUP127 Fundamental Issues in Philosophy

. This module explores philosophical attempts to understand the world and our place within it. It does this by examining key questions and debates about the nature of reality (metaphysics) and our ability to understand it (epistemology). These issues include: how do objects persist through time, even when they undergo significant change? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Can we experience the world in itself or is our knowledge of the world necessarily shaped by our language, culture and/or body? When are we justified in believing the things that we do?
HUP243 Philosophy and the Enlightenment

This module explores key philosophical ideas as they developed through the age of the Enlightenment. The primary aim is to introduce students to major Enlightenment philosophers in order to see how their theories reflected and contributed to the social and intellectual developments of the time. This will also reveal how their ideas shaped, and to continue to shape, Western philosophy and society more generally. We will examine debates about, among other things, the nature of truth, knowledge, reality, God and the self. The philosophers addressed include Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant. We will also consider critiques of the Enlightenment, including romantic, feminist and critical race perspectives.
HUP243A Philosophy and the Enlightenment

This module explores key philosophical ideas as they developed through the age of the Enlightenment. The primary aim is to introduce students to major Enlightenment philosophers in order to see how their theories reflected and contributed to the social and intellectual developments of the time. This will also reveal how their ideas shaped, and to continue to shape, Western philosophy and society more generally. We will examine debates about, among other things, the nature of truth, knowledge, reality, God and the self. The philosophers addressed include Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant. We will also consider critiques of the Enlightenment, including romantic, feminist and critical race perspectives.
HUP319 Reality and Cognition: Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology

This module equips students with contemporary philosophical concepts and methods for thinking deeply about the nature of reality, and our capacity to make cognitive contact with it. It then invites them to apply these to topics of philosophical concern, including: the metaphysics of time; the metaphysics of gender; the metaphysics of disability; epistemic injustice; the metaphysics of virtual worlds; and the epistemology and metaphysics of science and mathematics.
PO-127 Disinformation, Ideology and Bias: Researching and examining political data

¿The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.¿ - Garry Kasparov This module addresses one of the central challenges of contemporary politics: understanding the nature and role of political information. Our focus is the development of high-level information literacy. Throughout the module, students are shown how to analyse a variety of real-world examples of political information including campaign videos, social media posts, speeches, and news coverage by applying key concepts from the study of political communication. The themes of the module are informational manipulation (disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda); the political analysis of media content (bias and ideology); and psychological modes of media influence (priming, framing, and agenda-setting). As such, the module aims to empower students with an applied understanding of how to navigate the political information environments within which they are embedded. The module also engages students with the social science methods that have been developed to analyse research questions about the nature and impact of today's media environment in the realm of politics. This allows students to develop the conceptual vocabulary and thinking skills necessary to critique the assumptions, methods, and evidential standards that underlie academic analyses of these topics.

Dr Rob Knowles

Email address

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Taught Modules

HUP105 Critical Reasoning

HUP127 Fundamental Issues in Philosophy

HUP243 Philosophy and the Enlightenment

HUP243A Philosophy and the Enlightenment

HUP319 Reality and Cognition: Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology

PO-127 Disinformation, Ideology and Bias: Researching and examining political data