Texts I
Module Code: PI1002
Module Name: History of Philosophy I
- ECTS Weighting: 15
- Semester/Term Taught: Michaelmas + Hilary Term
- Contact Hours: 44 hours of lecture and 10 hours of tutorial
- Module Personnel: Lecturers – Dr. Georg Urich, Dr. Manfred Weltecke, Professor Vasilis Politis, Aisling Crean, Professor James Levine
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module, students will be able to:
- analytically interpret classic philosophical texts;
- interpret and evaluate the work of Kant, Plato, Berkeley and Kripke;
- defend philosophical interpretations of these texts.
Module Content
This is a problem–based course, comprising the following components:
Component 1: Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals – Dr Georg Urich & Dr. Manfred Weltecke
Immanuel Kant's short treatise is arguably the most important text in modern philosophy. Its influence on moral theory and the amount of criticism and debate it has generated is out of all proportion to its size. Its purpose is, in Kant's own words, 'nothing more than the search for and establishment of the supreme principle of morality', the famous categorical imperative. It contains concise accounts of many important topics such as: the nature of virtue, the good will, duty, the moral law, and the autonomy of the agent which have proved both insightful and controversial. We will study this seminal work closely and examine Kant's arguments critically.
Students are requested to obtain a copy of the text before the first meeting. Advance reading is recommended.
Component 2: Plato's Republic – Professor Vasilis Politis
Plato's Republic weaves together major themes in ethics, politics, psychology, epistemology and metaphysics; and does so in a way that relates to issues of critical relevance not only to his contemporaries but arguably to us. In this course we shall focus on five themes: (1) the defense of injustice, based on Plato's description (through Thrasymachus) of the actual ethical and political world; (2) the account of a radical divide in humans between rational and irrational desires; (3) the response to this description of the actual human condition through the articulation of a paradigm of a good community and man; (4) the conception of education, in general and for its end; (5) the conception of philosophy and the philosopher underlying this grand project.
Component 3: Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge – Aisling Crean
Component 4: Kripke's Naming and Necessity – Professor James Levine
We will study Saul Kripke's Naming and Necessity, an influential and engaging book which is based on lectures he gave in 1970, and which has greatly shaped the discussion, within analytic philosophy, of issues concerning the nature of modality (necessity, possibility, and impossibility) and of language. Time permitting, we will look at some related views of Hilary Putnam and at some responses to Kripe's views.
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.