Unit information: Texts in Modern European Philosophy 2 in 2019/20

Unit name	Texts in Modern European Philosophy 2
Unit code	PHIL30116
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Sticker
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Philosophy
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

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

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:

1. demonstrate sophisticated knowledge and understanding of one or more central texts in the development of modern European philosophy, and why the issues and ideas developed in the text or texts are philosophically important,
2. demonstrate sophisticated knowledge and understanding of the key themes and disputes in the key secondary literature relating to the relevant text or texts,
3. demonstrate the ability to engage critically with, analyse, and assess, the positions and arguments of the relevant text or texts, together with the

key secondary literature, in a manner appropriate to level H/6,

1. demonstrate skills in philosophical writing and argument appropriate to level H/6,
2. work together collaboratively as a group to orally present complex philosophical issues and ideas clearly to an audience.

Teaching Information

22 one-hour lectures and 11 one-hour seminars

Assessment Information

All Assessment is Summative:

Group presentation: 20% [ILOs 1-3, 5]

2 x 2000 word essays: each essay 40% [ILOs 1-4]

Reading and References

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, Wiley-Blackwell, 1978. Stephen Mulhall, Heidegger and Being and Time, Routledge, 2005. Richard Polt, Heidegger: An Introduction, Cornell University Press, 1999.Theodore Kisiel, The Genesis of Heidegger’s Being and Time, University of California Press, 1995. Robert Brandom, Tales of the Mighty Dead, Harvard University Press, 2002.