15 credits
Level 1
First Term
How “real” is reality? How does the mind relate to the world? This course introduces two approaches to answering these questions: rationalism and empiricism. By Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, we learn about Descartes’ rationalist approach to knowledge, reality, mind-body dualism, and God’s necessary existence. Through David Hume’s Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding see how Hume grounds knowledge in experience. We read Hume on impressions and ideas, induction, causality, miracles and critically compare and examine Descartes’ and Hume’s arguments by drawing on readers and critics. Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 1
First Term
Watch this course video! We examine questions such as: Is eating animals immoral? Is being a good or bad person a matter of luck? If so, are we justified in punishing bad people? Should anyone be able to set limits on what you can do with your own body, even if it's ‘for your own good’? Should everyone be allowed to state their mind, even if their views are harmful or offensive? Is censorship ever justifiable? Do you have a moral obligation to help those worse-off? Are you unknowingly biased against underprivileged groups? Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 1
Second Term
Why do the morally right thing when you have much more to gain by doing evil and know you could get away with it? Should you save five lives even if this requires you to kill someone in exchange for them? Would you lie on the witness stand to protect your guilty mother from life in prison? We will read and discuss responses to these questions that have been presented in both historical and contemporary texts, including those by Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Kant, John Stuart Mill, Bernard Williams, Judith Thomson, Shelly Kagan, and T.M. Scanlon.
15 credits
Level 2
First Term
Watch the course video! In this course we explore a series of arguments which suggest that it is hard to fit the mind into the physical world. In particular, we focus on three topics: the Mind/Body Problem, Free Will and Determinism, and Personal Identity. Each topic starts with an argument which suggests that we are not merely physical entities like brains, the central nervous system or other biological entities. Taken together, these arguments offer a serious challenge to the view that we can explain human cognition in terms of the physical characteristics of human brains and bodies. Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 2
First Term
This course provides students with an introduction to central issues in metaphysics, epistemology, logic and philosophy of language. The emphasis is on introducing some of the central issues in these areas; issues that have shaped the contemporary debate. In addition to introducing a number of central issues in metaphysics, epistemology, logic, and philosophy of language, this course also teaches and further develops a number of essential skills including extracting and evaluating philosophical arguments, critical writing, and the application of logical concepts to philosophical problems. Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 2
Second Term
For a course description, watch this brief video!
In recent times equality among genders has attracted increasing attention. This is no longer a matter of concern to a fringe movement, but a central issue to contemporary society. In this course we will examine some of the crucial issues in the debate and assess the merits of key arguments. The topics we’ll discuss include the gender pay gap, the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and popular culture, pornography, abortion, the objectification of women, gender equality in sports, and epistemic injustice.
15 credits
Level 3
First Term
Some of the most pervasive forms of discrimination are based on sex, sexual orientation, race, and disabilities. Each of these categories straddles the boundaries between facts and values. This course investigates the extent to which they reflect biological features and value judgements and how they underpin intuitions about what is ‘natural’, ‘abnormal’, ‘innate’ or ‘a matter of choice’. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 3
First Term
This course is an exploration of Ancient Greek ethics through a careful study of the arguments of several important Greek philosophers (e.g., thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle). Through close readings of primary texts, classroom discussions, and writing assignments, students will become familiar with the way in which these crucial early philosophers addressed important ethical issues. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 3
First Term
This course aims to introduce students to three of the main theoretical approaches to the study of language and meaning through a focused study of three central figures in the literature: Ferdinand de Saussure, Paul Grice and Gottlob Frege. In studying these figures, we will focus on the distinct contribution philosophy has to make to the study of language, and on the wider philosophical applications of a proper understanding of linguistic meaning.
30 credits
Level 3
First Term
This team-taught course is designed to expose students to topics of contemporary research interest. Each lecturer will teach 3-4 weeks of the course on topics related to their current research. The general theme of the course for this academic year is: Human and Non-Human Minds. Students will choose to write assessments from this broad spectrum of topics. Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 3
First Term
This advanced course in epistemology focuses on the recent philosophical debate on scepticism. We will single out prominent forms of scepticism and explore attempts to respond to them. The emphasis will be on external world scepticism and responses to it. The course doesn't aim to reject scepticism. Its function is rather that of illuminating and critically discussing problems affecting our most basic theses, notions and intuitions in epistemology through the analysis of sceptical arguments. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 3
Second Term
Each student will choose a specific topic of interest to them. (These choices will be confirmed by / negotiated with the department). With supervision and direction from elected supervisors, the student will produce an extended essay of 5,000 words.
30 credits
Level 3
Second Term
It seems obvious that many choices you make are entirely up to you. But according to an attractive and currently popular view, we're nothing over and above the physical universe, subject to same laws of nature that govern colliding billiard balls and decaying fruit. But if this is so, how can our actions and decisions be entirely up to us? Aren’t they the result of a string of complex physical, chemical and biological reactions that are outside of our control? If so, then why should we be praised or blamed for them? Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 3
Second Term
What is an emotion? Are emotions irrational? Do emotions help us to live a good life? And how are they related to our sense of self? These are some of the questions with which philosophers interested in the investigation of emotions have been concerned, and the aim of this course is to explore some of the main contributions and key debates in this area. We will start by examining different accounts of the nature of emotions, investigating for example how they may be related to judgements and perception. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 3
Second Term
Kant s Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is one of the most important works of Western philosophy Kant focuses on what we can and cannot know, transforming concepts of freedom, God, self, and nature along the way. In resolving the impasse between rationalism and empiricism, Kant set out a new approach to epistemology and metaphysics called transcendental idealism. This fundamental turning-point in philosophy also generated some enduring problems.
30 credits
Level 3
Second Term
Many religious questions and topics have often been central to philosophical reflection in the long philosophical tradition of the West that reaches from Ancient Greece to the present day. By way of common close extended reading and analysis of one or more classic texts from this tradition of Philosophy of Religion, this course invites students to delve more deeply into the way religious questions have been approached by important philosophical thinkers as wider ranging as Plato, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and Plantinga. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
Full Year
The dissertation is on a topic in philosophy. The specific topic will be chosen by the student with the approval of the supervisor. The choice of topics is restricted insofar as it must fall within the teaching competence of the supervisor. Download Course Guide
15 credits
Level 4
First Term
Some of the most pervasive forms of discrimination are based on sex, sexual orientation, race, and disabilities. Each of these categories straddles the boundaries between facts and values. This course investigates the extent to which they reflect biological features and value judgements and how they underpin intuitions about what is ‘natural’, ‘abnormal’, ‘innate’ or ‘a matter of choice’. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
First Term
This course is an exploration of Ancient Greek ethics through a careful study of the arguments of several important Greek philosophers (e.g., thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle). Through close readings of primary texts, classroom discussions, and writing assignments, students will become familiar with the way in which these crucial early philosophers addressed important ethical issues. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
First Term
This course aims to introduce students to three of the main theoretical approaches to the study of language and meaning through a focused study of three central figures in the literature: Ferdinand de Saussure, Paul Grice and Gottlob Frege. In studying these figures, we will focus on the distinct contribution philosophy has to make to the study of language, and on the wider philosophical applications of a proper understanding of linguistic meaning.
15 credits
Level 4
First Term
This advanced course in epistemology focuses on the recent philosophical debate on scepticism. We will single out prominent forms of scepticism and explore attempts to respond to them. The emphasis will be on external world scepticism and responses to it. The course doesn't aim to reject scepticism. Its function is rather that of illuminating and critically discussing problems affecting our most basic theses, notions and intuitions in epistemology through the analysis of sceptical arguments. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
Second Term
It seems obvious that many choices you make are entirely up to you. But according to an attractive and currently popular view, we're nothing over and above the physical universe, subject to same laws of nature that govern colliding billiard balls and decaying fruit. But if this is so, how can our actions and decisions be entirely up to us? Aren’t they the result of a string of complex physical, chemical and biological reactions that are outside of our control? If so, then why should we be praised or blamed for them? Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
Second Term
What is an emotion? Are emotions irrational? Do emotions help us to live a good life? And how are they related to our sense of self? These are some of the questions with which philosophers interested in the investigation of emotions have been concerned, and the aim of this course is to explore some of the main contributions and key debates in this area. We will start by examining different accounts of the nature of emotions, investigating for example how they may be related to judgements and perception. Download Course Guide
30 credits
Level 4
Second Term
Kant s Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is one of the most important works of Western philosophy Kant focuses on what we can and cannot know, transforming concepts of freedom, God, self, and nature along the way. In resolving the impasse between rationalism and empiricism, Kant set out a new approach to epistemology and metaphysics called transcendental idealism. This fundamental turning-point in philosophy also generated some enduring problems.
30 credits
Level 4
Second Term
Many religious questions and topics have often been central to philosophical reflection in the long philosophical tradition of the West that reaches from Ancient Greece to the present day. By way of common close extended reading and analysis of one or more classic texts from this tradition of Philosophy of Religion, this course invites students to delve more deeply into the way religious questions have been approached by important philosophical thinkers as wider ranging as Plato, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and Plantinga. Download Course Guide
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