| Unit name | Texts in Modern European Philosophy 2 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHIL30116 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Seiriol Morgan |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit gives students the opportunity to study in depth one or more of the key landmark texts in the development of modern European philosophy, which made a major contribution to the development of philosophy during that period. The text may be a single key text, or where appropriate more than one text by the same philosopher or more than one text by different philosophers, when a clear and philosophically important relationship between them can be demonstrated. Study is by close reading of an engagement with the text itself, and also via a close introduction to key interpretative issues arising in the contemporary secondary literature associated with it. The particular text or texts focused on may vary from year to year, but in each case will raise issues of enduring and general philosophical interest and importance.
The unit aims to give students a deep understanding of one or more of the key landmark texts published by European philosophers of the C19 and C20, writing in the wake of Kant’s ‘Copernican revolution’ in Philosophy. The texts and the issues that they raise will be of enduring philosophical interest and significance. The positions and arguments advanced within the text or texts will be considered and assessed, and their continuing importance brought out.
Examples of possible texts that might be studied:- Heidegger’s Being and Time, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, Gadamer’s Truth and Method
On successful completion of this unit students will: 1) Have a deep understanding of one or more central texts in the development of modern European philosophy, and why the issues raised are philosophically important 2) Have a solid understanding of some key themes and disputes in the contemporary secondary literature relating to the text or texts mentioned in 1), and how and why they are important to our understanding of the text or texts and the issues raised 3) Be able to engage critically with the positions and arguments of these philosophers, both historical and contemporary, at a depth suitable to level H, and offer their own assessment of them. 4) Have further developed skills in reading philosophy, constructing and evaluating arguments, and writing philosophy, bringing these to an advanced level, building on the skills acquired in units at level I and level C.
22 one-hour lectures and 11 one-hour seminars
This unit will have two scheduled lecture hours per week. The first will be more traditionally didactic in form, the second more interactive. Key to these will be a number of ‘colloquia’, where the lecturer introduces issues and disputes from the secondary literature related to the text, and then invites student engagement and debate about them. This is the key method by which learning outcome 2) will be achieved, and one of the methods by which the ‘depth’ of understanding mentioned in learning outcomes 1) and 3) is achieved.
Summative: Three hour unseen examination Formative: 1x 2500 word essay
These assessment methods contribute to the achievement of all the intended learning outcomes, in that 1) knowledge and grasp of the breadth of the issues raised by the text(s) is required and developed by successful exam preparation, 2) all of the writing assignments (i.e. both formative essays and written answers to exam questions) require argumentative engagement with the material, and 3) the formative essays in particular help develop writing skills, both through practice and in dialogue with the tutor who marked them in essay tutorials, and 4) the increased philosophical depth appropriate to level H units is encouraged by the slightly longer word count of the formative essay than at level I, and in the nature and difficulty of the exam questions asked
Literature will vary as the texts vary, but as an example, if the text were Heidegger’s Being and Time, the following would be suitable:- Martin Heidegger Being and Time Stephen Mulhall Heidegger and Being and Time Richard Polt Heidegger Theodore Kisiel The Genesis of Heidegger’s Being and Time Werner Marx Heidegger and the Tradition
