PY111-4-FY-CO:
Introduction to Philosophy
2015/16
Philosophy
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 4
Current
30
18 June 2002
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA V500 Philosophy,
BA V501 Philosophy (Including Year Abroad),
BA V502 Philosophy (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV53 Philosophy and Art History,
BA VV5H Philosophy and Art History (Including Year Abroad),
BA VV15 Philosophy and History,
BA VV51 Philosophy and History (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV5C Philosophy and History (Including Year Abroad),
BA MVC5 Philosophy and Law,
BA VM51 Philosophy and Law (Including Year Abroad),
BA QV25 Philosophy and Literature,
BA VQ52 Philosophy and Literature (Including Foundation Year),
BA VQ5F Philosophy and Literature (Including Year Abroad),
BA LV25 Philosophy and Politics,
BA LV2M Philosophy and Politics (Including Year Abroad),
BA LV35 Philosophy and Sociology,
BA VL53 Philosophy and Sociology (Including Year Abroad),
BA V5M9 Philosophy with Human Rights,
BA V5MX Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA L0V0 Philosophy, Politics and Economics,
BA L0V1 Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Including Placement Year),
BA L0VA Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Including Year Abroad),
BA VV56 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics,
BA VV5P Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Year Abroad)
Module Outline
This module is open to all first-year students whose course permits them to choose an optional module. It is compulsory for students on the BA Philosophy, BA Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, BA Philosophy and Film, BA Philosophy and History, BA Philosophy with Human Rights; BA Philosophy and Law, LLB Law and Philosophy, BA Philosophy and Literature, BA Philosophy and/with Modern Languages, BA Philosophy and Politics, BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BA Philosophy and Sociology.
Students taking this module will follow the topics described below. Each lecture will be followed by a one-hour discussion class, at which issues covered in the lecture will be discussed in smaller class groups. In Week 4 the discussion class will cover essay preparation and writing techniques. There will be two revision sessions in the summer term.
Autumn Term (Lecturer - Matt Burch)
In this part of the module, we shall take up a close study of philosophical scepticism. Beginning with the ancient sceptics and the Agrippan Argument, we shall focus on some defining moments in the western philosophical tradition through the lens of radical sceptical doubts and responses to sceptical arguments. Questions considered will include: What does it mean to doubt? Do we actually know anything at all? What is certainty? For all we know, might we be brains in a vat? Might other people be zombies? How reliable are our perceptions, judgements and inferences? Does radical doubt represent the fundamental starting point for genuine thinking or a philosophical dead end? Is it a live possibility for us today?
Spring Term (Lecturer - Irene McMullin)
In this part of the module, students are introduced to moral philosophy through the study of a number of life and death issues (such as suicide, abortion, euthanasia, torture, and capital punishment). Considering these issues will bring some of the fundamental approaches to moral philosophy and some of its key distinctions into focus. Moreover, it will also allow students to familiarise themselves with the way we argue in (moral) philosophy. Questions considered will include: Is taking a human life always and absolutely wrong? Does it make a difference whether we take a human life or merely refrain from saving it? What weight (if any) should we attach to people`s choices in these matters? And do benefits to the individuals concerned or to society matter in deciding about them? What are the moral requirements involved? How demanding should morality be and how much of our lives should it govern? What role(s) do examples and intuitions play in our moral reasoning? And how can we defend or criticise a moral theory?
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
articulate philosophical problems in the areas studied;
expound and critically evaluate some responses to these problems;
employ their powers of philosophical argument and analysis in written work.
These outcomes are assessed through continuous coursework and unseen examinations. Coursework tests the ability to research a topic using, for example, library and internet resources, expound specified texts and enter into detailed argumentation with them. Unseen exams test the ability to rehearse and assess arguments in relation to specific questions posed within a limited time frame.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure;
write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong;
think critically and constructively.
No information available.
No information available.
No additional information available.
1 x one-hour lecture each week followed by a one-hour discussion class at which issues covered in the lecture will be discussed in smaller class groups. There will be two revision sessions in the summer term. Weeks 8 and 21 are Reading Weeks.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Autumn Term Essay One |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Autumn Term Essay Two |
|
25% |
| Coursework |
Spring Term Essay |
|
50% |
| Exam |
Main exam: 180 minutes during Summer (Main Period)
|
Additional coursework information
Students must achieve a minimum mark of 40% overall to pass this module.
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Matt Burch (Autumn), Dr Irene McMullin (Spring)
Initial contact is Barbara Brickman, First Year Undergraduate Administrator, (Philosophy), email bbrick@essex.ac.uk, tel 01206 873485
Yes
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
Philosophy
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