Module Directory

This module covers Kant`s epistemology as developed in his Critique of Pure Reason. This is a pivotal text in philosophy. The module concentrates primarily on the Transcendental Aesthetic and the Transcendental Analytic. Particular attention will be given to the formal status of Kant`s epistemology and the assessment of whether this counts as a weakness or a strength.

Students will develop an understanding of the details of Kant`s position in the Critique; a critical grasp of the central arguments of Kant`s position; and an appreciation of the central significance that position has in the history of philosophy. This will be achieved through developing a close familiarity with the text and with relevant secondary literature.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to have a good understanding of:

1. Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, especially those concerning the nature of space, the status and function of the basic categories of our thought and experience, and the contradictions into which reasoning falls when it is divorced from experience.


2. Kant’s innovations in method, and in particular the procedure of ‘transcendental deduction’.


3. The thrust of Kant’s critique of traditional metaphysics.

Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of this module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:

1. Define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant.


2. Seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information.


3. Process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments.


4. Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.


5. Write a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.


6. Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.


7. Think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches.


8. Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.


9. Think critically and constructively.

Erasmus/IP students must have already taken two philosophy modules at their home institutions.

Kant`s epistemological position was a response to the problems of both rationalism and empiricism, and resulted in a radical and lasting change to the shape of our philosophical map. An understanding of Kant`s position and of this text is foundational for any student of modern philosophy (in both the continental and the analytical traditions).

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour seminar per week.

There is a Reading Week with no seminars.

Discussion will be encouraged throughout.