Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module allows students to engage in a sustained reading of ones of the key texts of the history of philosophy.

The text covered by any instance of the module will be reflected in the module's title. The module will rotate through texts every time it runs, allowing students to sit both the second-year module and third-year instances of this module in consecutive years, without repeating content.

Texts covered will be of research interest to the module leader, and students will be guided though both the text itself and contemporary perspectives on it, drawing on this expertise.

Outline Of Syllabus

A text from the history of philosophy is selected and students will consider the following:

Contextualisation of the text and its aims
Slow reading of the text and analysis of its methodology and content
Identification and investigation of antecedent thought which is essential to the text
Understanding of the place of the text in the history of philosophy
Understanding of the impacts and the text and other works that follow it.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completing this module students will have:

Awareness of the content, context, basis of, and impacts of a key text in the history of philosophy.

Intended Skill Outcomes

On completing this module students will:

-       Be able to understand and evaluate different views and reach balanced judgments of their own;
-       Be able to read a text slowly and in depth, identifying key arguments and concepts;
-       Be able to investigate the previous theories and assumptions the text comes into a dialogue with, and understand their importance to any philosophical text.
-       Understand the methodology of philosophy as a discipline and the importance of its key texts;
-       Be able to produce extended pieces of written assessment (c. 2000 words), based on independent research.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The lectures will provide essential subject-specific knowledge on a range of seminal thinkers and ideas. Seminars permit discussion of the relative merits of these thinkers and ideas and guide independent analysis, interpretation, and critique.

Material will be provided as structured guided learning to guide students through the text as they read it.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Students will be assessed by a 2000-word essay and will be able to choose from a range of essay questions. The essay tests the ability to think analytically, creatively, self-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, to cite relevant texts and interpret them adequately, to discover examples in support of or to challenge a position, and to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant considerations.

General Notes

N/A