PHILOSOPHY

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Jezzi

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The course will introduce students to the main normative moral theories and
will critically engage with some fundamental questions in moral philosophy.

Are there obligations binding on everyone, or is morality relative to culture? Is the goal of ethics a happy life or something completely different? Writers studied will include Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, Rawls
and Nussbaum.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures per week and 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight.

Assessment

1st attempt: One 2,000 word essay (50%); 1 two-hour examination (50%).

Resit: One take home essay (100%); topic to be arranged with co-ordinator in advance.

Formative Assessment

Weekly tutorial discussions provide students with regular opportunities to check their progress in understanding.

Feedback

Written feedback provided timeously on course essay; weekly tutorial discussions.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Luzzi

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The course will introduce students to key concepts in informal reasoning and formal logic. In particular, the former component will include identifying argument structure and common logical fallacies in everyday discourse. The latter component will include methods in first-order propositional logic (formal proofs, truth trees, truth tables).

Structure

2 one-hour lectures plus 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Class Test (50%); 1 one-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: Class Test (50%); 1 one-hour written examination (50%).

Feedback

Students can consult exam scripts.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti and Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course gives an introduction to two closely connected core fields of Philosophy: the theory of knowledge and of mind.
We will examine a number of interrelated issues concerning the nature of mind, its relations to the physical world, and the way in which the mind shapes our conception of ourselves as persons. Is the mind separate from the physical world? Is it a non-physical soul that could survive bodily death? Or is the mind really nothing over and above the brain? Could things other than persons have minds?

We will also address problems in the field of epistemology, which is concerned with what it is to know something. For example, how does knowledge differ from a lucky guess? What sorts of methods lead us to genuine knowledge rather than unreliable opinion? And, in an issue that has often been raised by philosophers, do we really know anything at all? There are initially plausible arguments that seem to show we can never know anything: examining what, if anything is wrong with these arguments will, hopefully, help us to see what knowledge really is and why it is important. We will focus on a number of particularly puzzling topics: justification, knowledge of the external world, induction, a priori knowledge.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 1,500 word essay (45%); tutorial participation (10%); and 1 two-hour written examination (45%).

Resit: One 1,500 word essay (45%) and 1 two-hour written examination (55%). Original essay mark carried forward if CAS 6 or above. New essay to be submitted if original essay CAS 5 or below.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essay; individually arranged conversation during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

On essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr B Lord

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The course introduces rationalism and empiricism as two major systems of thought taking different approaches to the same question: how does the mind relate to the world? Students will first learn about 17th century rationalism by focusing on Rene Descartes? Meditations on First Philosophy. Through this text, students will learn about rationalist approaches to knowledge and reality, and about specific topics in Descartes? philosophy including the method of doubt, the mind-body problem, and arguments for the existence of the self, God, and the world. We will then turn to David Hume?s Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding as the key text of 18th century empiricism. Through this text, students will learn how empiricist philosophers criticized rationalism, and turned instead to experience to provide a foundation for knowledge. We will look at Hume's distinction between impressions and ideas, the problem of induction, his account of causality, and his critique of miracles. Other rationalist and empiricist philosophers will also be introduced to provide context.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week. Tutorials begin in week 2.

Assessment

One 1,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

One 1,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr G Hough

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 2017.

Overview

Philosophers have always been interested in the nature and origins of language and its relation to thought. During the last century and a half in particular, philosophical work in this area (along with related work in disciplines like linguistics, computer science and psychology) has been particularly fruitful. This course will introduce students to some of this work. Topics may include: the nature of reference, and whether reference is sufficient to determine the literal meaning of words and sentences; how quantifiers work (words like 'all', 'some', 'most', etc.), and what this might teach us about the nature of existence and non-existence; the relation between the important philosophical concepts analyticity, a priority, and necessity; the relationship between the meaning of our words and the content of our thoughts. Philosophers whose work may be discussed include: Gottlob Frege, Paul Grice, Saul Kripke, Alexius Meinong, Bertrand Russell, Peter Strawson, etc.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week, plus 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight. (This is the same as Level 2 teaching arrangements in Philosophy for the past 4 years.)

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus one two-hour written examination (50%). Original essay mark carried forward if CAS 6 or above. New essay to be submitted if original essay CAS 5 or below.

Feedback

Students will receive written comments on, and marks for, their essays and exams.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Berto

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 2019.

Overview

It's pretty difficult to explain in general terms what Metaphysics is or what metaphysicians do. Here's why. Firstly, Metaphysics is a very wide ranging subject, covering topics as diverse as the existence of God, the nature of space and time, and the relationship between mind and body. Secondly, what metaphysicians do can seem a little strange. They spend much of their time attempting to answer questions like 'are there numbers'?, 'do we have free will'?, or 'is the future real'? You might legitimately think that these questions don't really make much sense. What do questions like 'are there numbers'? or 'is the future real'? even mean? You might also wonder why philosophers think they can answer questions that seem more suited to mathematicians or scientists.Given the diversity and the apparent oddity of metaphysics (and metaphysicians), it is best to focus on some specific examples of the debates metaphysicians engage in. In this way, we can see how the discipline works in detail, and thus (I hope) get an idea of what metaphysics is more generally, and of what metaphysicians are trying to do. In particular, we shall focus on debates including: the nature of causation, the reality (or otherwise) of time, the possibility that we do not have any free will, and the question of what it is to be a person.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week, plus 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight. (This is the same as Level 2 teaching arrangements in Philosophy for the past 4 years.)

Assessment

1st attempt: One 1,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: One 1,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%). Original essay mark carried forward if CAS 6 or above. New essay to be submitted if original essay CAS 5 or below.

Feedback

Students will receive written comments on, and marks for, their essays and exams.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr T Milligan

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 2520.

Overview

Philosophy has a history from which it cannot be separated. The history of philosophy is a vast storehouse of possible solutions to problems which still puzzle us. It is also an archive of sometimes very curious philosophical problems that most contemporary philosophers would not consider engaging with (but maybe they should?). By studying the history of philosophy we gain a better understanding of how our current philosophical conceptions came about. For some philosophers, studying the history of philosophy is even the only way of doing philosophy, arguing that no concept, argument, or form of reasoning can be understood outside the concrete, historical context of its formulation. No matter how one looks at it, however, it is crucial for any aspiring philosopher to gain a sense of the development of the discipline, to acquire knowledge of the main philosophical figures and schools that have shaped it over the centuries, and to develop an idea of the problematic relation philosophy as such upholds to its history. In this course, we will read texts by a number of major, representative figures from different periods in the history of philosophy. We will also read related secondary literature.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week, plus 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight. (This is the same as Level 2 teaching arrangements in Philosophy for the past 4 years.)

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus one two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus one two-hour written examination (50%). Original essay mark carried forward if CAS 6 or above. New essay to be submitted if original essay CAS 5 or below.

Feedback

Students will receive written comments on, and marks for, their essays and exams.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Berto

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

Mastery of elementary propositional and first-order formal logic is a fundamental pre-requisite for many intermediate and advanced courses in analytic philosophy: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind, Artificial Intelligence, Modal Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Formal Epistemology, and Ontology. This course introduces the semantics and proof theory of standard elementary logical languages including identity and the quantifiers. Students are taught how to translate arguments formulated in natural language into the standard notation of elementary logic, and back; how to build elementary formal logical proofs; and how to check the validity of statements expressed in the elementary language via model-theoretic reasoning.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week for 12 weeks, plus one tutorial per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt; One 1,500 word essay (50%); 1 two-hour final exam (50%).

Resit; 1 two-hour written exam (100%).

Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Feedback

Comments attached to the evaluation of essays will be returned to students. Comments attached to the evaluation of final exam will be available to students.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr B Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This is a topic-driven course on which we critically explore questions relating to the meaning and value of life. These topics will include: God, suffering, absurdity, death, sex, happiness, pleasure. In doing so we will draw upon a wide range of thinkers from both Anglo-American and European traditions, and also, where relevant, on literature and film.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight. (This is the standard format for all level 2 philosophy courses.)

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%).

Feedback

Essay feedback on essay assessment form for each student who submits their essay on time (or has agreed essay extension). Further face-to-face discussion for students who request it.

Exam feedback on exam assessment form; individual students can request to see these via the DHP School Office.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R Re Manning

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The Philosophy of Religion deals with perennial and fundamental questions about the nature and rationality of religious beliefs and practices. Key topics include arguments for the existence of God, the concept and attributes of God, the nature of religious language, the problem of evil, miracles, and the challenges of religious pluralism. The course will engage, from a broadly analytical perspective, with these core questions through close attention to classic texts within the mainstream tradition of Philosophy of Religion.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 1,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: 1 one-hour written examination (100%).

Feedback

Regular feedback will be provided through the course of the Tutorials, including feedback according to specific criteria for student participation in Tutorial discussion. Transparent feedback will be available to students on their mid-term essays and on the end of course exam.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The fruits of scientific research are all around us, from news about 'God particles' to medical treatments and consumer goods. Scientific research appears to be a particularly effective and reliable way of gaining empirical knowledge. Science is often portrayed as an essentially rational enterprise in which as yet unproven hypotheses are put to rigorous tests by means of systematic observations and sophisticated experiments. The result of this enterprise is the gradual accumulation of knowledge about natural processes and the laws of nature, or so it may seem. But is there really a uniform scientific method that leads us to reliable empirical knowledge? Or are scientists inevitably bound by paradigms, ways of thinking and doing that constrain what they research and how they interpret the data? Do we have reasons to belief that our best confirmed scientific theories are true? Do theoretical entities like electrons exist or are they conceptual tools for research? Are scientific explanations in some sense 'objective' or do they merely provide us with a warm feeling of understanding? What makes a scientific explanation good or bad? These questions are among the most central in philosophy of science and they will be the focus of this introductory course.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 6 one-hour tutorials held fortnightly over the duration of the course.

Assessment

One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour written examination (50%).
One 2,500 word essay (100%).
In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt.

The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr U. Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

This course introduces students to the metaphysics of science, ie. to central metaphysical topics and problems common to many sciences. The course complements the general introduction to philosophy of science and the honours level course on scientific methodology. While the precise content of the course may change from year to year, the following questions illustrate some of the main topics. What are laws of nature? Do laws of nature allow for exceptions? Should causation be analysed in terms of more basic concepts, like counterfactuals? Is there a metaphysical difference between causes and mere conditions? Is causation a matter of transmitting momentum, energy or information? Are there natural kinds? Do natural kinds imply essentialism? What are dispositions?

Structure

Level 3: 1 one-hour lecture and 1 two-hour tutorial per week.
Level 4: 1 one-hour lecture and 1 two-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; two 2,500 word essays (100%).

1st Attempt: Level 4; two 3,500 word essays (90%) and seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3; 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Resit: Level 4; There is no resit for year 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

This course needs to be double-coded as a Level 3/4 course; eg. PH 3060 / PH 4060 (see box 13 above). It also needs to be coded so that it can run in either half-session.

Overview

We continuously form beliefs and desires that represent the world as being a certain way. Beliefs, desires, and other mental states have contents, they exhibit intentionality. Understanding the nature of mental content is one of the classic topics in the philosophy of mind. This course introduces students to the problem of mental content, covers some of the central theories, and explores their implications. The specific topics may vary from year to year, but are likely to include various naturalistic theories of mental representation, such as causal role theories, indicator-semantics and teleosemantics, as well as the causal status of mental representations and eliminativism about representational content.

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor C. Wilson

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Entry after week 2 is disallowed.

Overview

Readings from Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Mill, Kant, de las Casas, Rawls, Nozick, Sen, Nussbaum, and other major writers.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture every week and 1 one-hour tutorial every week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3:

• 3 written assignments 150 words each (45%). Note: Students must achieve an average (including 0 for missed assignments) of CAS mark 6 in order to proceed to the Final Essay exam.


• Take Home Essay Exam 2,000 words (55%)

• 3 written assignments 200 words each (45%). Note: Students must achieve an average (including 0 for missed assignments) of CAS mark 6 in order to proceed to the Final Essay exam.


• Take Home Essay Exam 3,000 words (55%)

Feedback

Comments on written assignments, discussion in tutorials of application of CAS criteria with examples, opportunity for one to one consultation with course co-ordinator in office hours.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Jezzi

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13 as PH 302G.

Overview

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to ethical debates about the demands of justice in the international context. Three main topics will provide the focus of discussion:
international economic inequality, climate change, and war. Do citizens in developed countries have a duty to help needy people in developing countries? If so, what grounds this duty and how much aid does it require? How much should be done to limit global warming and how should the burdens of this effort be divided among different countries? What responsibilities, if any, do we have to future generations? When is war justified and what conduct in war is morally acceptable?

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week; 1 one-hour tutorial fortnightly.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 essay (approx. 2,500 words) (50%); 1 two-hour examination (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (100%). Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/appointment.

Feedback

On essay and marking sheet; office hour/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 352H / PH 452H.

Overview

Wittgenstein is one of the most important and influential philosophers of the Twentieth-Century. He is also one of the most enigmatic. In this course we will focus on Wittgenstein's remarks on ethics and religion, primarily (though not exclusively) in his later work. We will draw on relevant primary and secondary material in order to reconstruct and assess Wittgenstein's views.

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week

Level 4: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar for per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; one 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

1st Attempt: Level 4: one 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3; 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Resit: Level 4; There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Essay feedback provided on essay assessment sheet for each student who submits their essay on time - or who has a an agreed extension. Each student can arrange a face-to-face discussion if required.

Exam feedback provided on exam assessment sheet. Students can arrange to see these via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: one 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/by appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr F Berto

Pre-requisites

Familiarity with elementary first-order logic.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

Artificial Intelligence is the research program based upon the claim that that the fuzzy aggregate of abilities we collectively call intelligence can be realized artificially specifically, as an algorithm. If so, then it is possible to build a software implementing the algorithm, and have it run on a sufficiently powerful and fast computer.AI raises a number of momentous philosophical, moral and even religious questions. First, is it possible? Is it actually the case that to think is to compute, or is the human mind irreducible to algorithms? Next, what would an artificial intelligence be like, metaphysically speaking? Which moral obligations, if any, would we have towards an artificial being whose intelligence is isomorphic to ours? And what would such an intelligence tell us about the human mind? This course introduces both to the mathematical techniques of theoretical computer science (from computability theory to Turing machines, neural networks, serial, parallel, and non-standard computation), and to the philosophical issues.

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week

Level 4: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; one 2,000 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).
1st Attempt: Level 4; one 3,000 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3; two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Resit: Level 4; There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Comments attached to the evaluation of essays will be returned to students. Comments attached to the evaluation of final exam will be available to students.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 352L / PH 452L.

Overview

The course aims at uncovering what is constitutive of scientific rationality. Some of the most discussed conceptions of scientific methodology, including Baconian inductivism, hypothetico-deductivism, falsificationism, Feyerabend's anarchism and Bayesianism, will be analysed. Some of these views will be tested on cases from past and contemporary science, including the Copernican revolution and the continental drift hypothesis. Specific and "technical" topics, including the old and the new problem of induction, the Duhem-Quine thesis and paradoxes of confirmation, will also be surveyed.

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week

Level 4: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; two 2,500 word essays (100%).

1st Attempt: Level 4; two 3,500 word essays (90%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3; 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Resit: Level 4; There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

All feedback will be written on the essays.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 302M / PH 402M.

Overview

This course will explore the most difficult and important philosophical question: 'What is philosophy?' Given that philosophy is a deeply self-reflective discipline, its own nature and limits are of fundamental importance. Indeed, it can be argued that metaphilosophy is not simply one branch or sub-discipline of philosophy, but rather, all philosophy is (explicitly or otherwise) metaphilosophy. The sorts of questions examined on this course include: Are we natural-born philosophers? What is the relationship between philosophy and its history? Is philosophical disagreement of a particularly worrying sort? Is the biography of philosophers philosophically important? What might it mean to say that philosophy begins in wonder? Does philosophy have to be adversarial?

Structure

Level 3: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week

Level 4: 1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; one 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

1st Attempt: Level 4; one 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3; 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Resit: Level 4; There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Essay feedback for each student provided on essay assessment sheet. Each student can arrange face-to-face discussion if they require it.

Exam feedback for each student provided on exam assessment sheet, which can be accessed via the School Office.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Berto

Pre-requisites

Familiarity with basic general ontology (eg. by having attended Level 2 Metaphysics).

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 302N.

Overview

It has been claimed that the problem of ontology can be phrased in a three-word question: What is there? Despite this easy formulation of the question, the answer has proved to be difficult through the history of philosophy. This course explores some main questions of both classic and contemporary ontology, connected to the notions of being and existence. Some such questions are: Is being univocal? Is there a distinction between being and existence, and between there is and exists? What does the Kantian motto, Existence is not a predicate, mean? Is existence a property? Is the notion of existence captured by the existential quantifier of elementary logic?The course includes a broad historical overview, starting from the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, going through Plato's theory of being, Aristotle's criticisms of it, and the ontology of major Medieval thinkers like Aquinas and Avicenna. Next, the modern positions of Hume, Leibniz, and Kant on the subject are investigated. Finally, the inquiry turns to contemporary philosophy, analytic ontology, and the philosophy of quantification of such authors as Frege, Russell, Quine, Peter van Inwagen, Nathan Salmon, and Graham Priest.

Structure

One 60 minute lecture, plus one 60 minute tutorial per fortnight. Tutorials begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3 students: one 1,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour examination (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Feedback

Comments attached to the evaluation of essays will be returned to students. Comments attached to the evaluation of final exam will be available to students.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr T Milligan

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 352P.

Overview

The course will focus on the semantics and pragmatics of moral discourse and on the logics of moral relativism and moral realism. Authors to be read include eg., J. L. Mackie, Simon Blackburn, Bernard Williams, Richard Joyce, Russ Schafer-Landau, and Jesse Prinz.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week, (24 hours per term).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3; three 400 word written exercises (20% each = 60%) Note: The average mark, including zeros for nonsubmission must be 6 or above in order to be eligible to submit the final Essay Exam.
Take Home Essay Examination (2,000 words)(40%).

1st Attempt: Level 4; three 600 word written exercises (20% each = 60%) Note: The average mark, including zeros for nonsubmission must be 6 or above in order to be eligible to submit the final Essay Exam.
Take Home Essay Examination (3,000 words)(40%).

Resit: Submit existing written exercises with original marks (60%) and Take Home Essay Examination (40%).

Feedback

Comments on returned exercises; discussion in tutorials of criteria for assessment with examples from student writing; opportunity for one on one consultation with course co-ordinator in office hours.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 6 one-hour tutorials held fortnightly over the duration of the course. Tutorials start in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: For year 3 students: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/appointment.

Feedback

On essay and marking sheet; office hour/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course should be given a level 3 code (though level 4 student will be allowed to take it).

Overview

The history of Western Philosophy comprises, in large part, of classic books. Rarely, however, are students expected to read such texts in their entirety. In this course a selection of such texts will be available for students to work through in seminar-style groups which will meet up every week. The emphasis here is on student-led collaborative work. Students will be responsible for running each session, though a member of staff will chair the sessions. Every student leads at least one of the sessions, and this will form part of their assessment. Chosen texts will vary, depending on the coordinator.

Structure

1 introductory lecture (90 mins), plus 1 90 min seminar per week for remaining 11 weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (70%), class participation (10%) plus 1 two-hour examination (20%).

Resit: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (70%), plus 1 two-hour examination (30%).

Feedback

Each student receives an essay comments sheets, and in addition can request a one-to-one discussion with the coordinator.

Each student can request to see their exam assessment sheet from the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Re Manning

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 352T / PH 452T.

Overview

This course studies the major problems of religious metaphysics as they have been handed down to contemporary philosophy of religion from the Enlightenment era. Taking Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as its starting point, it first provides a close, critical examination of Kant's own reworking of the notions of God and soul, and of his rejection of the classical arguments for God's existence. It then provides a systematic account of the major responses to, or evasions of, Kant's challenge in the 20th and 21st centuries amongst those philosophers of religion who have sought either to repristinate theological metaphysics, or to give philosophical credence to God talk by means of other, post metaphysical, strategies of defence.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour exam (100%).

Feedback

Ongoing feedback will be provided in response to the Tutorials and Seminars, including comments related to specified criteria of assessment. Feedback will be provided on both essays and exams.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available as PH 352Q in 2012/13.

Overview

The history of Western Philosophy comprises, in large part, of classic books. Rarely, however, are students expected to read such texts in their entirety. In this course a selection of such texts will be available for students to work through in seminar-style groups which will meet up every week. The emphasis here is on student-led collaborative work. Each student runs at least one of the sessions, though a member of staff will chair the sessions. Running the session forms part of the assessment. Chosen texts to study will vary depending on the coordinator.

Structure

1 introductory lecture (90 mins), plus 1 90 min seminar per week for remaining 11 weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (70%), class participation (10%) plus 1 two-hour examination (20%).

Resit: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (70%), plus 1 two-hour examination (30%).

Feedback

Each student receives an essay assessment comments sheet. In addition, each student can arrange a one-to-one discussion with the coordinator.

Each student can get access to their exam assessment sheet on request via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour tutorial per week
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours.

Feedback

Written on essay and essay marking sheet; office hours.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 353A / PH 453A.

Overview

Over the last decades, the philosophy of biology has matured into a separate and dynamic field of philosophical inquiry. This introductory course aims to provide an overview of the field by examining some classical topics as well as more recent developments. The course ranges over key biological disciplines (evolutionary biology, ecology, molecular biology) and traces connections between philosophy of biology and other areas of philosophy, especially general philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind and language. The precise contents of the course may change from year to year.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The question of intersubjectivity is an important issue in philosophy. In this course we will examine a number of different approaches, including phenomenological, Wittgensteinian, and the so-called problem of other minds. The emphasis will be broadly ethical rather than strictly epistemological or metaphysical.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Feedback

Essay feedback provided to each student on essay assessment sheets. Each student can arrange for a face-to-face discussion if required.

Exam feedback provided to each student on exam assessment sheet, which can be viewed on request via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

European philosophy (sometimes known as Continental philosophy) represents the major alternative philosophical tradition to so-called Analytic philosophy the dominant tradition in academic philosophy today. On this course we will examine some key figures in the European tradition (e.g. Nietzsche, Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, Foucault). We will also evaluate to what extent the distinction between these two traditions is philosophically substantive or ideological.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Feedback

Each student receives comments on the essay assessment cover sheet for their essays. One-to-one discussion with the coordinator can also be arranged if needed.

Each student can request to see their comments sheet for the exam from the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

Wittgenstein's last notebooks, On Certainty, have provoked increasing interest over the past few years. In this course we will examine this important text, reconstruct its main themes, and critically assess the plausibility of its central claims. Although On Certainty deals most explicitly with questions of knowledge, doubt and certainty, we will also consider whether it offers any insight into questions of religious belief and morality as some commentators have claimed.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour tutorial per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) and 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

Feedback

Each student receives comments on their essay via the essay assessment form. In addition, one-to-one discussion with the coordinator can be arranged if needed.

Each student can access their exam comments form on request via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr F Berto

Pre-requisites

Familiarity with elementary first-order logic and set theory.

Overview

A paradox is an argument that, starting from intuitively plausible premises and via intuitively valid inferential steps, leads us to an unacceptable or absurd conclusion. It has been claimed that paradoxes play for philosophy the role that prime numbers play for number theory, just like all numbers can be obtained as products of primes, so all of philosophy can be obtained as a series of responses to the conundrums raised by paradoxes that challenge our conceptual schemes.

This course focuses particularly on logical paradoxes, arguably the most difficult to deal with. These sub-divide into (a) the so-called semantic paradoxes, like the historically famous Liar (Is the sentence "This sentence is false "true or false"?), and (b) the set-theoretic paradoxes, like Bertrand Russell's paradox (is the set of all non-self-memebered sets a member of itself or not?). Paradoxes of the kind (a) have posed a serious obstacle to the development of scientific 20th century semantics for natural language, and have been addressed by major philosophers and logicians like Alfred Tarski, Saul Kripke, Jon Barwise, and Graham Priest. Paradoxes of the kind (b) were already know to Kant and Hegel as dialectical contradictions of totalization, but their explosion in Cantor's set theory determined the so-called "Crisis of Foundations" of 20th Century mathematics, and are at the core of such major developments of mathematics and logic as Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. The course will provide a guided tour through these fascinating topics.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3 students: One 2,000 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Level 4 students: One 3,000 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (40%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3 students: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.?

There is no resit for Level 4 students.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr G Hough

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This course takes as its focus philosophical discussion of the psychological state of belief. This psychological state plays a central role in various philosophical debates the mind-body problem, epistemology and the nature of knowledge, the relationship between language and thought, etc. However, there has also been substantial philosophical work directly on belief. We'll focus on that work in this course. Possible topics include: the semantics of belief reports, Frege's Puzzle and related puzzling intuitions about belief reports, the nature of mental content, etc.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week). Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3 students: one 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (50%).
Level 4 students: two 3,500 word essay (90%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3 students: 1 two-hour written exam (100%). In line with School Policy, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt if a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5. The student must then take the resit in order to pass the course. Failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate.

There is no resit of Level 4 students.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor M Laerke

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3, though is open to level 4 students also.

Overview

This course is about a key tradition in the history of western philosophy, namely the continental rationalist tradition in the early modern period, as represented by major philosophers such as Descartes, Spinoza, Malebranche, and Leibniz. Continental rationalists contribute largely to the conception of philosophical question which remain live issues, and and their rigorous but also often grandiose systems continue to puzzle contemporary philosophers. This intensive six-week course is designed as a survey to key issues adressed by the major thinkers in the tradition, in the fields of epistemology, ontology, and modal philosophy. Readings will include classic texts (e.g. Descartes's Meditations, or Leibniz's Monadology) plus a number of commentary articles. While lectures will focus on providing the necessary historical and philosophical background, tutorials will be dedicated to discussion of primary texts.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week (thus 3 hours per week over 6 weeks all in all).
Note that this is conceived as a compressed 15 credit course, to run over only half a semester.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (100%).

(Resit): One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

The course focuses on the problem of the nature of epistemic justification and knowledge. Some of the most interesting epistemological conceptions emerged recently - including reliabilism, evidentialism and hybrid views - will be introduced and evaluated. We will also analyse epistemological theses and phenomena hotly discussed nowadays, such as epistemic circularity, easy knowledge, bootstrapping, failure of transmission of warrant, entitlement and immediate justification. We will investigate what consequences these phenomena have for the general problem of the knowledge of the external world and the overall structure of epistemic rationality. The topic of the vindication of the inference to the best explanation and themes in recent modal epistemology will also be surveyed.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.)
Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (100%).

Resit for year 3 students: One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt.

The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr S Torre

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

This course covers the main philosophical debates in free will, determinism and moral responsibility. We will examine and critically evaluate arguments for and against the compatibilism of determinism with free will and moral responsibility. Some topics to be covered include the consequence argument, compatibilism, illusionism, indeterministic accounts of free will, Frankfurt cases and moral luck. We will also look at some recent results from neuroscience and assess their philosophical import for the free will debate. The reading list may include works from A J Ayer, Roderick Chisholm, Daniel Dennett, Harry Frankfurt, John Martin Fischer, Ishtiyaque Haji, Ted Honderich, David Hume, Jenann Ismael, Robert Kane, Joshua Knobe, Shaun Nichols, Helen Steward, Eleonore Stump and Peter van Inwagen.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (100%).

Resit for year 3 students: One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr B Lord

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

This course covers areas in the history of philosophy not currently taught on the undergraduate Philosophy programme at Aberdeen. Falling under the headings of 'materialism and idealism', the course addresses a range of ideas and arguments from the 17th to 19th centuries in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy. The course develops and deepens knowledge that students will have acquired in the 2nd year History of Philosophy course. The course will complement the current Level 3 and 4 programmes by offering variety, exposing students to new thinkers and problems, and providing a stronger historical foundation for their other courses.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit for year 3 students: One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Two 1,000 word critical responses. Students will receive feedback for formative purposes only. In addition, feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

The course aims at uncovering what is constitutive of scientific rationality. Some of the most discussed conceptions of scientific methodology, including Baconian inductivism, hypothetico-deductivism, falsificationism, Feyerabend's anarchism and Bayesianism, will be analysed. Some of these views will be tested on cases from past and contemporary science, including the Copernican revolution and the continental drift hypothesis. Specific and "technical" topics, including the old and the new problem of induction, the Duhem-Quine thesis and paradoxes of confirmation, will also be surveyed.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 6 one-hour tutorials held fortnightly over the duration of the course. Tutorials start in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Resit: One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit). If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr B Lord

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

The course will focus on two continental philosophers who write on aesthetics and who are in dialogue with one another (e.g. Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Gadamer, Blanchot, Derrida, Deleuze). The specific philosophers and topics covered will vary each year. Examples from art, film, and literature will be used throughout and students will be encouraged to seek and write about their own examples. If possible, a field trip to a local art gallery will be organized.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 6 one-hour tutorials held fortnightly over the duration of the course. Tutorials start in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 1,000 word critical responses (20% each) plus one 2,500 word essay (60%).

Resit: One new 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay, critical responses and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

Course Coordinator

Dr T Milligan

Pre-requisites

At least a 14 point average across level 2 philosophy courses.

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching.

Overview

Each student will choose a specific topic of interest to them. (These choices will be confirmed by / negotiated with the department).

Structure

With supervision and direction from elected supervisors, the student will produce an extended essay of 5,000 words.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 5,000 word essay (100%).

Resit: One 5,000 word essay (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Variable

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students (or, with permission of the Head of School, students of equivalent status, such as non-graduating students from abroad).

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching. This course will not run in 2010/11.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity, is offered in the preceding spring, when students apply for entry into Honours, as an option to be run in the first half-session, and is of interest to a sufficient number of students to justify running it.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 9 ninety-minute seminars over twelve weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (50%) and 1 essay (50%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Variable

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students (or, with permission of the Head of School, students of equivalent status, such as non-graduating students from abroad).

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching. This course will normally run in the second half-session as PH 4506. This course will not run in 2010/11.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity, is offered in the preceding spring, when students apply for entry into Honours, as an option to be run in the second half-session, and is of interest to a sufficient number of students to justify running it.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 9 ninety-minute seminars over twelve weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (50%) and 1 essay (50%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr B Plant

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students (or, with permission of the Head of School, students of equivalent status, such as non-graduating students from abroad).

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching.

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

This course will explore the most difficult and important philosophical question: 'What is philosophy?' Given that philosophy is a deeply self-reflective discipline, its own nature and limits are of fundamental importance. Indeed, it can be argued that metaphilosophy is not simply one branch or sub-discipline of philosophy, but rather, all philosophy is (explicitly or otherwise) metaphilosophy. The sorts of questions examined on this course include: 'Is philosophy more akin to science or literature?' 'Is there progress in philosophy?' 'How (if at all) can we demarcate between "philosophy" and "non-philosophy"?' The course will be thematically structured.

Structure

One 3,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour examination (40%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour written examination (50%).

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching.

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The course aims at uncovering what is constitutive of scientific rationality. Some of the most discussed conceptions of scientific methodology, including Bacionian inductivism, hypothetico-deductivism, falsificationism, Feyerabend's anarchism and Bayesianism, will be analysed. Some of these views will be tested on cases from past and contemporary science, including the Copernican revolution, the continental drift hypothesis and the AWARE study of near-death experiences. Specific and "technical" topics, including the old and new problem of induction, the Duhem-Quine thesis and paradoxes of confirmation, will also be surveyed.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture plus one 90 minute student-led seminar.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.)

Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr G Hough

Pre-requisites

None.

Co-requisites

This course should be double coded for Level 3 and Level 4.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

Sometimes speakers mean more by their utterances than what those utterances literally say. Especially striking examples of this occur when a speaker is being ironic or using a metaphor. However, this phenomenon is not restricted to these special cases. There are many more mundane types of language use for which the literal meaning of the sentence used does not fully determine what the speaker means by her utterance. For example, cases of lexical ambiguity (eg. ‘Farmer Jones found his pen empty’), structural ambiguity (‘The chicken was ready to eat’), or indexicality (eg. ‘She asked for that book’).

The study of how we mean more than we literally say falls under the remit of Pragmatics. Philosophers have contributed a substantial amount to linguistic work on these issues, via work in the philosophy of language. Furthermore, philosophers have drawn on the intuitive distinction between sentence meaning and speaker meaning in attempting to solve puzzles in philosophical work on language and beyond. In this course, we will begin by examining philosophical work on various pragmatic processes: conversational implicature, presupposition, deixis. Then we will examine a variety of philosophical applications of these mechanisms, possibly including work in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and moral philosophy.

Structure

Level 3: One 90 minute lecture,
one 90 minute tutorial
Level 4: One 90 minute lecture, one 90 minute student-led seminar.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3: One 2,500 word essays, 1 two-hour exam.
Level 4: Two 3,500 word essays (90%0 and one presentation (10%).

Resit: Level 3: 1 essay of 2,500-3,000 words in length (50%); 1 two-hour written examination (50%). 1st attempt essay mark carried forward if CAS 6 or above. New essay submission required if 1st attempt essay result CAS 5 or below.

Level 4: There is no resit for Level 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Jezzi

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

In this course, we will read the works of three different political philosophers and engage with the distinct theories of justice which they propose: the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill, the left-liberalism of John Rawls, and the libertarianism of Robert Nozick. These philosophers disagree with respect to what the individual's rights against the state consist in and how far they extend. Along with engaging directly with the texts of these philosophers and their critics, we will look at two different cases from public policy and constitutional law. The two cases address the right to abortion and the legal status of pornography. These cases provide hard challenges for the views we will discuss and will be central to the course's structure. They should help us to test the success of these theories against our own moral and political intuitions.

Structure

1 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (50%); 1 two-hour examination (50%).

Resit: Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/appointment.

Feedback

On essay and marking sheet; office hour/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Re Manning

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

In academic year 2011/12 this course will run in the first half-session as PH 402A.

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

This course studies the major problems of religious metaphysics as they have been handed down to contemporary philosophy of religion from the Enlightenment era. Taking Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason as its starting point, it first provides a close, critical examination of Kant’s own reworking of the notions of ‘God’ and ‘soul’, and of his rejection of the classical arguments for God’s existence. It then provides a systematic account of the major responses to, or evasions of, Kant’s challenge in the 20th and 21st centuries amongst those philosophers of religion who have sought either to repristinate theological metaphysics, or to give philosophical credence to God‐talk by means of other, ‘post‐metaphysical’, strategies of defence.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.)

Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (40%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

This course needs to be double-coded as a Level 3/4 course; eg. PH 3060 / PH 4060 (see box 13 above). It also needs to be coded so that it can run in either half-session.

Overview

We continuously form beliefs and desires that represent the world as being a certain way. Beliefs, desires, and other mental states have contents, they exhibit intentionality. Understanding the nature of mental content is one of the classic topics in the philosophy of mind. This course introduces students to the problem of mental content, covers some of the central theories, and explores their implications. The specific topics may vary from year to year, but are likely to include various naturalistic theories of mental representation, such as causal role theories, indicator-semantics and teleosemantics, as well as the causal status of mental representations and eliminativism about representational content.

Structure

1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) and seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students (or, with permission of the Head of School, students of equivalent status, such as non-graduating students from abroad).

Notes

This course is compulsory for Senior Honours students in Philosophy. Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching.

This course will be available in 2012/13.

Overview

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.

Structure

1 one-hour introduction into the course. 3 one-hour meetings with the supervisor to discuss general progress. The rest of the work will be carried out by students through individual study.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Dissertation, 10,000 words (100%).

Resit: No resit.

Formative Assessment

Discussions with supervisor and, to discretion of supervisor, written comments on submitted work (excluding the dissertation itself).

Feedback

Face to face during appointments or as written comments.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 402F.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer based on his/her current area of research activity.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures, 9 one and a half-hour seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%); 1 two-hour examintaion (40%); seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for Level 4 students. Compensatory credit may be awarded at level 1.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essay and presentation; individually arranged conversations during office hours/appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; verbally during office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching.

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The nature of truth constitutes one of the deepest philosophical problems ever. Is truth correspondence with external reality or mere coherence of all our ideas and representations together? Is truth a real property of our beliefs or, rather, a deflationary and redundant feature of them? Are there truths that we couldn't possibly know even if our cognitive powers were idealized? Is truth reducible to some kind of epistemic justification? The course aims to provide a systematic survey of the answers given to these questions by contemporary metaphysicians. Relations between these answers and central issues in metaphysics and epistemology such as the nature of objectivity and of epistemic justification will also be investigated.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 9 one and a half-hour of student-led seminars over twelve weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) and seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: No resit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit.

Feedback

All feedback will be written on the students' essays.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

Level 4: 1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

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

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/by appointment.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/by appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Jezzi

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 452N.

Overview

This course explores some of the main ethical topics debated in Greek philosophy in its
first 500 years, covering some of the main schools and philosophers (Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, the Stoics, the Epicureans). Through close readings of primary texts, student-led discussions, and short writing assignments, students will grapple with the following sorts of questions. Do we always have an overriding reason to be moral? Would we have such a reason if we were guaranteed that we could get away with doing evil? What is the difference between a good and a bad person? What is the difference between a good and
a bad life? How important is pleasure to happiness? To what extent is our happiness up to
us? What is the relationship between virtue and happiness? Can virtue be taught?

Structure

1 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500-3,000 word essay (50%); one two-hour examination (50%).

Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates acheiving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversation during office hours/appointment.

Feedback

On essay and marking sheets; office hour/appointment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The course will focus on the long-standing debate on epistemological scepticism, will single out the principal types of scepticism emerged in history and will explore important attempts to reply to them. The emphasis will be on global scepticism (or scepticism about the external world) and the contemporary responses to it. The latter will include positions based on relevant alternatives, on the rejection of closure, and on epistemological entitlement; infallibilism and contextualism will also be considered.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 9 one and a half-hour student-led seminars over twelve weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (45% each) and seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: No resit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit.

Feedback

All feedback will be written on the students' essays.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Re Manning

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 352T / PH 452T.

Overview

This course studies the major problems of religious metaphysics as they have been handed down to contemporary philosophy of religion from the Enlightenment era. Taking Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as its starting point, it first provides a close, critical examination of Kant's own reworking of the notions of God and soul, and of his rejection of the classical arguments for God's existence. It then provides a systematic account of the major responses to, or evasions of, Kant's challenge in the 20th and 21st centuries amongst those philosophers of religion who have sought either to repristinate theological metaphysics, or to give philosophical credence to God talk by means of other, post metaphysical, strategies of defence.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: No resit for Level 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Ongoing feedback will be provided in response to the Tutorials and Seminars, including comments related to specified criteria of assessment. Feedback will be provided on both essays and exams.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

1 one and a half hour lecture and 1 one and a half hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours.

Feedback

Written on essay and essay marking sheet; office hours.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will be available in 2012/13 as PH 353A / PH 453A.

Overview

Over the last decades, the philosophy of biology has matured into a separate and dynamic field of philosophical inquiry. This introductory course aims to provide an overview of the field by examining some classical topics as well as more recent developments. The course ranges over key biological disciplines (evolutionary biology, ecology, molecular biology) and traces connections between philosophy of biology and other areas of philosophy, especially general philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind and language. The precise contents of the course may change from year to year.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) and a seminar presentation (10%).
Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment.

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The question of intersubjectivity is an important issue in philosophy. In this course we will examine a number of different approaches, including phenomenological, Wittgensteinian, and the so-called problem of other minds. The emphasis will be broadly ethical rather than strictly epistemological or metaphysical.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Essay feedback provided to each student on essay assessment sheets. Each student can arrange for a face-to-face discussion if required.

Exam feedback provided to each student on exam assessment sheet, which can be viewed on request via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

European philosophy (sometimes known as Continental philosophy) represents the major alternative philosophical tradition to so-called Analytic philosophy the dominant tradition in academic philosophy today. On this course we will examine some key figures in the European tradition (e.g. Nietzsche, Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, Foucault). We will also evaluate to what extent the distinction between these two traditions is philosophically substantive or ideological.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).
Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Feedback

Each student receives comments on the essay assessment cover sheet for their essays. One-to-one discussion with the coordinator can also be arranged if needed.

Each student can request to see their comments sheet for the exam from the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

D R Plant

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

Wittgenstein's last notebooks, On Certainty, have provoked increasing interest over the past few years. In this course we will examine this important text, reconstruct its main themes, and critically assess the plausibility of its central claims. Although On Certainty deals most explicitly with questions of knowledge, doubt and certainty, we will also consider whether it offers any insight into questions of religious belief and morality as some commentators have claimed.

Structure

1 one and a half-hour lecture and 1 one and a half-hour student-led seminar per week.
(Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 3,500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Each student receives comments on their essay via the essay assessment form. In addition, one-to-one discussion with the coordinator can be arranged if needed.

Feedback

Each student can access their exam comments form on request via the School Office.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr L Moretti

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

The course focuses on the problem of the nature of epistemic justification and knowledge. Some of the most interesting epistemological conceptions emerged recently - including reliabilism, evidentialism and hybrid views - will be introduced and evaluated. We will also analyse epistemological theses and phenomena hotly discussed nowadays, such as epistemic circularity, easy knowledge, bootstrapping, failure of transmission of warrant, entitlement and immediate justification. We will investigate what consequences these phenomena have for the general problem of the knowledge of the external world and the overall structure of epistemic rationality. The topic of the vindication of the inference to the best explanation and themes in recent modal epistemology will also be surveyed.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.)
Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 4 students: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt.

The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Feedback

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr S Torre

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

This course covers the main philosophical debates in free will, determinism and moral responsibility. We will examine and critically evaluate arguments for and against the compatibilism of determinism with free will and moral responsibility. Some topics to be covered include the consequence argument, compatibilism, illusionism, indeterministic accounts of free will, Frankfurt cases and moral luck. We will also look at some recent results from neuroscience and assess their philosophical import for the free will debate. The reading list may include works from A J Ayer, Roderick Chisholm, Daniel Dennett, Harry Frankfurt, John Martin Fischer, Ishtiyaque Haji, Ted Honderich, David Hume, Jenann Ismael, Robert Kane, Joshua Knobe, Shaun Nichols, Helen Steward, Eleonore Stump and Peter van Inwagen.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Feedback

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr B Lord

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

This course covers areas in the history of philosophy not currently taught on the undergraduate Philosophy programme at Aberdeen. Falling under the headings of 'materialism and idealism', the course addresses a range of ideas and arguments from the 17th to 19th centuries in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy. The course develops and deepens knowledge that students will have acquired in the 2nd year History of Philosophy course. The course will complement the current Level 3 and 4 programmes by offering variety, exposing students to new thinkers and problems, and providing a stronger historical foundation for their other courses.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.) Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One 2,500 word essay (50%) plus 1 two-hour exam (50%).

Resit: One 2,500 word essay (100%).

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

If a component piece of assessed work is submitted and marked 0-5, students cannot pass the course on the first attempt. The student is automatically entitled to resit, and must resit in order to pass the course.

Formative Assessment

Two 1,000 word critical responses. Students will receive feedback for formative purposes only. In addition, feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr U Stegmann

Pre-requisites

This course is for students in Programme Year 3 or above who study for the MA in Mental Philosophy, MA in Natural Philosophy, or MA in Philosophy-Physics (exceptions are at the discretion of the Course Coordinator and UGPC).

Overview

Emergence, reduction, supervenience, and material constitution are concepts invoked in both philosophy of science and philosophy of mind when trying to understand natural systems, including the mind/brain. Natural systems are often described in terms of wholes composed of parts whose interactions produce the system?s overall capacity. This course explores a number of issues raised by such descriptions: What does it mean to say that higher-level entities are realised by, or constituted by, or supervene on, lower-level entities? Do higher-level entities have causal powers that are somehow independent of those of lower-level entities? Or do higher-level entities reduce to an arrangement of lower-level entities? Does one explain the other? Are there emergent properties? What can the ?new mechanistic philosophy? contribute to these questions?

Structure

3 one-hour lectures plus nine 90-minute seminars.

Assessment

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

Resit: There is no resit for Level 4 students. Compensatory credit may be awarded at level 1.

In line with School Policy, failure to submit a component piece of assessed work, or submitting a token piece, will result in the withdrawal of the class certificate (students are not eligible for resit).

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours/by appointment; feedback on in-class presentations.

Feedback

Written on essay and marking sheet; office hours/appointment; peer questions and comments during in-class presentations.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

The content of this course will be determined each year by a lecturer whose course, based on his or her current area of research activity.

Structure

One 90 minute lecture, plus one 90 minute tutorial for Level 3 students, plus one 90 minute student-led seminar for Level 4 students per week. (Thus, each student will have 3 contact hours per week.)

Tutorials/seminars begin in week 2.

Assessment

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

Resit: No resit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6–8 may be awarded compensatory Level 1 credits.

Formative Assessment

Feedback

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr G Hough

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students (or, with permission of the Head of School, students of equivalent status, such as non-graduating students from abroad).

Notes

Students are not permitted to register for this course after the end of week 2 of teaching. This course will not be available in 2012/13.

Overview

This course will focus on three figures: Frege (with some discussion of neo-Kantianism and of Saussure's conception of language); Russell's theory of descriptions (with some discussion of Husserl's very different approach to meaning); and Wittgenstein's Tractatus.

Structure

1st Attempt: Level 3: One 90 minute lecture and one 90 minute tutorial.
Level 4: One 90 minute lecture and one 90 minute seminar.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Level 3: One 2,500 word essay and 1 two-hour examination.

Level 4: Two 3,500 word essays (90%) plus seminar presentation (10%).

Formative Assessment

Feedback