Central Problems in Philosophy
Module Code: PI1001
Module Name: Central Problems in Philosophy
- ECTS Weighting: 15
- Semester/Term Taught: Michaelmas + Hilary Term
- Contact Hours: 44 hours of lecture and 11 hours of tutorial
- Module Personnel: Lecturers – Professor Paul O'Grady (email), Dr. Alice Pinheiro Walla (email), Professor Antti Kauppinen (email), Dr. Meredith Plug (email)
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module, students will be able to:
- Identify and use different methods of philosophical analysis;
- Distinguish the main areas within philosophy;
- Write essays in a critical and dialectical manner;
- Cricially evaluate core arguments in epistemology, eithics, political philosophy and philosophy of mind.
Module Content
This is a problem–based course, comprising the following components:
Component 1: Epistemology – Professor Paul O'Grady (email)
This course begins with a discussion of the analysis of knowledge. This is followed by an investigation of foundationalism and coherentism as competing accounts of epistemic justification. We conclude with an investigation of internalism and externalism as approaches to epistemology.
Component 2: Moral Philosophy – Dr. Alice Pinheiro Walla (email)
This course will offer an overview of the main normative theories of morality: utilitarianism, consequentialism, deontology, contractarianism and virtue eithics. We shall discuss historical and contemporary proponents of each philosophical position as well as their merits and shortcomings as theories of morality.
Component 3: Political Philosophy – Antti Kauppinen (email)
Politicians of all stripes like to justify their proposals by appealing to notions such as justice, freedom, equality, and the general good. But what do these abstract concepts really amount to? Which of these values should be given priority in a good society? Political philosophers give general answers to these questions. We will examine them and consider what they would mean for some major political questions of our time.
Component 4: Philosophy of Mind – Dr. Meredith Plug (email)
This course introduces some central topics in the philosophy of mind. We think, reason, perceive, feel and so on, but how does our thinking, reasoning (etc.) relate to the fact that we have physical bodies and are part of the physical world? Are our thoughts identical to brain states or are they different sorts of things? How can we have thoughts that are about things in the world? Could a computer think in the way we think? A large part of the course will be dealing with the 'mind–body problem' and we will look at answers to this problem including Cartesian Dualism, behaviourism, materialism and functionalism.
Assessment Details
Students will be required to submit two essays for this component, comprising 50% of the overall grade. The annual examination accounts for 50% of the overall grade.