Unit name | Themes in Value Theory |
---|---|
Unit code | PHIL30136 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Burch-Brown |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Philosophy |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This is an advanced course in value theory, incorporating topics from practical philosophy, social philosophy, ethics, political philosophy and/or related fields. Priority will be placed on exposing students to a diversity of practical philosophical problems, approached from a diversity of traditions. The unit will give students experience with moving flexibly between different philosophical schools; it therefore assumes a high level of philosophical skill, suitable to third year study. Common themes will be highlighted across the term, to give a sense of continuity as well as diversity across the different traditions studied. Content will vary each term and will be led by the teaching team’s current research interests, giving students a chance to engage with new and emerging research. This unit will help prepare students for masters-level study, and will also support their ability to engage as philosophers with a diverse global community.
The unit will be delivered through a mixture of lectures and seminars, where seminars may be online or in person, consist of group discussion or Q&A, and will typically involve a close reading of a central philosophical text or texts. The text may sometimes be a single work by an author, or a series of articles.
Aim:
To provide students with a grounding in diverse approaches to value theory and practical philosophy (e.g. ethics, social philosophy, political philosophy and cognate areas).
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
Lectures, small group work, individual exercises, seminars and virtual learning environment.
Formative digital collaborative Presentation (ILOs 1-4) + SUMMATIVE: 1 x 3,500 word essay - 100% (ILOs 1-4)
Hannah Arendt, ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil’, New York: Penguin Books.
Thom Brooks, ‘Philosophy unbound: The idea of global philosophy’ in Metaphilosophy 44(3), 2013.
Joseph Carens, The Ethics of Immigration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Tommie Shelby, Dark Ghettos: Dissent, Injustice, Reform. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Mark Csikszentmihalyi, ‘Confucius’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/