Module PHIL2031: MODERN PHILOSOPHY I

Department: Philosophy

PHIL2031: MODERN PHILOSOPHY I

Prerequisites

• At least one module from the following: Ethics and Values (PHIL1011), Knowledge and Reality (PHIL1021), Reading Philosophy (PHIL1041), Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science (PHIL1081), OR other appropriate evidence.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide students with a critical acquaintance with 17th and 18th Century philosophical writings and their historical setting, emphasising those on metaphysics and epistemology.

Content

• The topics covered include some of the following:
• substance, causality, and the Aristotelian inheritance
• scepticism
• ideas, language and meaning
• Cartesianism
• the mind/body problem
• God and the New Mechanical Philosophy
• Spinoza's monism and his theory of emotions
• Leibnizian monads and metaphysics
• Locke's ideas
• personal identity
• free will - Locke, Leibniz and the modern debate
• women in the 17th and 18th Century philosophy
• Berkeley's immaterialism
• Hume on Causality, his critique of Metaphysics

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will have knowledge and understanding of key arguments in the texts, of historical and contextual information bearing on their topics and style, and of some modern critical reactions to them.

• grasp, analyse, evaluate and deploy subject-specific concepts and arguments
• locate, understand, assess and utilise pertinent philosophical (and, where appropriate, historical) sources
• interpret and criticise relevant texts.

• express themselves clearly and succinctly in writing
• comprehend complex ideas, propositions and theories
• defend their opinions by reasoned argument
• seek out and identify appropriate sources of evidence and information
• tackle problems in a clear-sighted and logical fashion.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures deliver basic module-specific information, and provide a framework for further study.
• Tutorials provide opportunities for students to test their own understanding of the material studied, and defend and debate different opinions.
• Guided reading provides a structure within which students exercise and extend their abilities to make use of available learning resources.
• The Formative essays provide the opportunity for students to test their knowledge and understanding of the module content, and their ability to present and defend relevant arguments and theories, uninhibited by the need for summative assessment.
• The unseen examination tests students' overall knowledge and understanding of the module content at the end of the module, and their ability to bring it to bear on new problems under pressure of time.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two essays of 1800 words each

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University