Module PHIL40330: Science and the Enlightenment

Department: Philosophy

PHIL40330: Science and the Enlightenment

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• to introduce and critically assess the characteristic features of the Enlightenment's relationship to scientific knowledge.
• to explore the diverse perspectives that influenced the relationship between science and human nature during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
• to delineate and differentiate essential sources, tools and historiographies relevant to a postgraduate history of science research essay.

Content

• All the seminars will make students familiar with arguments why a historical perspective is important for understanding science during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
• The first half of the module covers the general relationship between science and the cultural intellectual history of the Enlightenment broadly construed.
• The second half of the module uses case studies to examine the relationship between science and Enlightenment notions of human nature, covering topics such as childhood, ‘civilisation’ and gender.
• In consultation with the Module Leader, students will choose a topic for their assessed Essay. The essay's topic should normally come from one of the subject areas covered in the seminars. Topic proposals falling outside these areas will have to be approved by the module leader.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should have:
• an understanding of science as it was understood within the cultural context of the Enlightenment;
• a familiarity with key Enlightenment texts and ideas relevant to the history of science and human nature.

• By the end of the module students should be able to:
• evaluate different historiographical interpretations of key developments in the history of science and the Enlightenment;
• demonstrate skills in the historical interpretation of sources relating to natural philosophy, natural history and the natural sciences;
• write a critical and well-researched essay on a selected topic relevant to science during the Enlightenment.

• Extended development of general written and oral communication skills
• The ability to discuss topical or general issues with a high degree of fluency
• Extended skills in the acquisition and interpretation of information through close reading and research
• An extended ability to read complex and multivalent texts with intellectual nuance, and a sensitivity to context and genre

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

• This module will be taught in 7 two-hour group seminars, and with individual tutorial sessions on the topic of the assessed essay. In addition, draft versions of the assessed essay will be presented in the one-day workshop before submission.
• Each of the two-hour seminars will be led by the lecturer. The seminars include a short introduction to the topic by the lecturer; students' historical interpretation of selected sources; students' short presentations of key primary and/or secondary literature; and joint critical discussion of pre-read research publications (partly in group work).
• The individual tutorials (entitlement of up to 2 contact hours with the chosen supervisor) will support the student's work towards the assessed essay. They include discussion of the chosen research/essay topic; guidance on relevant research methods and literature; development of a research plan and time-table; and feedback on essay drafts.
• In the workshop (up to 8 hours) students will present draft versions of their essay and discuss them with their fellow-students and the lecturer.
• These teaching and learning methods will support students in achieving Learning Outcomes 1-5 above. The 5 Learning Outcomes will be formally assessed by the essay.
• Though optional, students will also be invited to attend the research seminars, workshops or special lectures relevant to the history of science, philosophy and medicine organised by the Department of Philosophy.
• Students will also have the opportunity to attend on a voluntary basis papers given at the Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Short formative essay of 2,000 words on a topic distinct from that of the summative essay.

■ 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