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  6. PH4094: RESEARCH RELATED SUBJECT 1

PH4094: RESEARCH RELATED SUBJECT 1 (2015-2016)

Last modified: 25 Mar 2016 11:33


Course Overview

We'll discuss the later work of one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century: Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). In the first half of the course we'll focus on selected passages from Philosophical Investigations, in which Wittgenstein undermines many of our opinions and theories regarding meaning and language, self-knowledge and action. In the second half of the course we'll turn our attention to developments and applications of Wittgenstein’s later work specifically, in relation to religious belief and certainty. Key primary texts we'll look at are ‘Lectures on Religious Belief’, ‘Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough’, Culture and Value and On Certainty.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Robert Plant
  • Dr Paula Sweeney

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Either Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

In almost any area of contemporary philosophy that you study, you will eventually encounter talk of possible worlds.  Physicalism, naturalism in ethics, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions, mental and linguistic content, to name a few, are often stated or analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of all this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as the literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I am a concert violist? If so, then what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes like the actual world? Or are they abstract representations such as sets of sentences or numbers? Or perhaps, all this possible worlds talk is a useful fiction that philosophers participate in and, strictly speaking, there are no such things. Or perhaps it's not really the best way of capturing our modal talk and should be abandoned. In this course, we will consider these questions.  We will look at parts of David Lewis's influential book On the Plurality of Worlds as well as work by Adams, Bennett, Bricker, Chisholm, Divers, van Inwagen, Kripke, Melia, Plantinga, Rosen, and Vetter

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt: one 3,500 word essay (50%), one two-hour written examination (40%) and seminar presentation (10%).

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

None.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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