Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

The above or another 20 credit stage 1 Philosophy module required

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the critical thought of Immanuel Kant, as expressed in the Critique of Pure Reason; to develop a clear sense of his approach to epistemology, and to understand his philosophy in the context of the history of ideas and the problems of philosophy with which he was faced, especially those of empiricism and rationalism.

Outline Of Syllabus

- Students will focus on key ideas in Kant’s major theoretical work;
- Students will explore how Kant’s ideas were responding to problems in the recent history of philosophy as well as setting the scene for subsequent developments in European philosophy;
- Students will explore the meaning of the terms with which the Critique of Pure Reason operates, such as dogmatic metaphysics, critique, sensibility, understanding, reason, etc.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students will:
- Become acquainted with the principal concepts of Kant's critical philosophy;
- Understand something of the nature of the different faculties whose functions Kant delineates;
- Understand the contributions Kant’s major work made to European philosophy.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students will:
- Learn to engage with philosophical concepts and materials in a detailed and technical manner;
- Learn something of the importance of the history of European philosophy and its most decisive moments for philosophy as a whole;
- Learn a new method of thinking and a critical awareness of the limits of our previous conceptions of what it means to think and to know.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module introduces central themes in later modern philosophy and constitutes a background for PHI2002 and potentially, should students opt to do it, PHI2020. Lectures provide students with a systematic account of milestones in the development of modern concepts of knowledge. Students are given a structured reading list and lecture notes. These topics are developed further and discussed in seminars.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay tests the ability to think coherently, critically and independently, as well as managing one’s own work to set time limits. This assessment method also gauges the students’ ability to move between generalisation and appropriately detailed discussion, and to cite relevant primary and secondary texts and interpret them adequately.

The assessment scheme which the students are given and which is explained at the start of the module shows clearly how the mark emerges out of expected competences and their link to specialist knowledge. The student is expected to recognise key epistemological concepts of the modern era, to be able to position them in the context chosen for the essay and as they are supported by the references to the primary and secondary literature or application niche.

General Notes

Original Handbook text: