Module Directory

The general aim of this module is to improve students' ability to read, understand and critically assess philosophical texts from a range of historical periods and philosophical traditions. The particular text (or texts) under consideration in any one year will operate as exemplary for the development of philosophical reading skills more generally. Some of the texts that may be addressed include: Kierkegaard's Philosophical Crumbs, Austin's How to Do Things with Words; Anscombe's Intention; Rousseau's The Social Contract; Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations; Plato's Gorgias, Merleau-Ponty's The Prose of the World.

Each year, we look in detail at a classic philosophical text. Close attention will be paid to reading the text on its own terms and developing students' critical and philosophical skills by engaging closely with the arguments and questions raised. We will look at the text not only as a historical document, but also study it with regard to its on-going contribution to philosophical thinking.

The aims of this module are:

• To develop a good and critical understanding of a text or set of texts from the history of philosophy (such as Austin’s How to Do Things with Words or Anscombe’s Intention or Wittgenstein’s Blue Book or Plato’s Gorgias) through attentive reading of his text.


• To gain a better understanding of what it means to attentively read a philosophical text.


• To gain an insight into the role of expression within philosophy and beyond.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Be in a position to reconstruct, analyse and criticise the position found in the text or set of texts from the history of philosophy on which the module focuses.


2. Be able to enter into discussion with a range of positions on the topic in a text or set of texts from the history of philosophy.


3. Be better readers of philosophical – and other – texts.

In this module,we will read Plato's Gorgias. In this dialogue, Plato explores questions surrounding the value and nature of rhetoric – the art of speaking and persuading others of your views. In our age of Fake News and demagoguery, Plato’s questions are both timely and important, and through our close reading of the Gorgias we’ll explore questions concerning power and truth, politics and happiness and, not least, the role of philosophy in both politics and the good life. The dialogue contains Socrates’ famous argument that it is better to suffer injustice than to commit it (even if with impunity) as well as a fierce battle between different conceptions of justice: is justice merely whatever the stronger party decrees, or is it something good in itself and a necessary component of a happy life? The Gorgias not only contains hugely influential arguments on these topics, it also introduces us to some of the most memorable characters in the philosophical canon: the sophist Gorgias, the young Polus, and the fierce critic of conventional justice, Callicles. I this course, we’ll pay particular attention to Plato’s use of the dialogue form and ask why he does philosophy through the use of drama and myths. 

This module will be delivered via:

• Weekly discussion seminars.