Last modified: 04 Oct 2022 15:30
Social ontology is the field in philosophy that investigates the nature of the social world. Some questions addressed are: What are social groups? What is the role of language and attitudes in creating the social world? What is the nature of social categories and classifications? What, for instance, are race and gender? Are these features of the natural world or are they socially constructed? The course will survey recent work in social metaphysics within the analytic and the continental tradition for thinking about these questions.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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In this course, we will gain an insight into the ontology of the social world. We will first analyse the foundational issues of the field, drawing on the debate about the nature of collective actions and shared intentionality. Our focus will be on how social entities arise when people act together, sharing certain collective attitudes and linguistic practices. We will analyse and evaluate the arguments presented by J. Searle, M. Gilbert, R. Tuomela, and M. Bratman. In the second section of the course, we will turn our attention to a critical approach to the ontology of the social world and ask how power relationships can influence social categories and classification by reflecting on applied cases of gender, race, and class. Topics that will be studied include: the social construction of gender and race, bio-power and bare life. We will deal with the thesis defended by S. Hanslanger, J. Butler and G. Agamben.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system. |
Word Count | 2500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the subject areas |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire un understanding of the philosophical relevant literature to the topics |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills |
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communication skills. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system. |
Word Count | 2500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the subject areas |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire un understanding of the philosophical relevant literature to the topics |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills |
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communication skills. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Online submission. Feedback will be provided via MyAberdeen’s SafeAssign system |
Word Count | 2500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Create | Develop proficiency in written and oral communication skills. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Develop critical thinking skills |
| Procedural | Create | Learn to frame arguments and to communicate arguments to a group of peers. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire un understanding of the philosophical relevant literature to the topics |
| Conceptual | Understand | Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the subject areas |
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