Philosophy BA (Hons)

You take eight modules in total.

• Ethics (PHIL101) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 60:40 Aims
  1. ​Students will become familiar with key concepts in ethics – bothmeta-ethics and normative ethics.​ 
     
  2. ​​S tudents will gain an acquaintance with the main approaches to moral theory (such as virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism), as well as key debates in meta-ethics (subjectivism vs objectivism, naturalism vs non-naturalism).​

  3. ​Students will tackle central questions in ethics, such as ‘is a good action more about good intentions than beneficial outcomes?’, ‘does lying possess an objective property of badness?’, ‘ought different people to follow different moral codes?’ and ‘what activities lead to a good life?’.​

  Learning Outcomes ​Students will be able to distinguish between some main concepts in ethical debates, past and present.​

  
  

  Students will be able to explain recent developments in ​meta-ethics and normative ethics. ​Students will be able to evaluate some of the main theories in the history of moral philosophy and contemporary ethics. Students will be able to analyse concepts and arguments relating to ethical issues. ​Students will be able to identify philosophical assumptions underlying ethical claims and judgments. Students will be able to structure a discussion of issues in ethics.​​ Students will be able to speak with confidence and clarity on issues of moral philosophy. Students will be able to explain details of canonical texts in moral philosophy.​

  Students will be able to articulate and defend basic positions in classic and contemporary moral philosophy.

  Students will be able to write coherently and rigorously about abstract philosophical issues raised by ethical debates.

• Political Philosophy (PHIL102) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 60:40 Aims

• Students will be introduced to the theories and arguments of some of the most important philosophers and of the western tradition of political thought, such as Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Marx and Mill. 

• Students will be introduced to some of the main concepts in political philosophy, including political obligation, democracy, community, rights, liberty, justice and property.​

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to distinguish some main concepts in political philosophical debates.

​ Students will be able to distinguish between different ways of understanding  concepts in political philosophical debates.

Students will be able to explain and evaluate some of the main theories in the history of political philosophy.​

Students will be able to analyse concepts and arguments relating to political issues.​

Students will be able to identify philosophical assumptions underlying political claims.​

Students will be able to structure a discussion of issues in political philosophy.​

Students will be able to speak with confidence and clarity on issues of political philosophy​.

Students will be able to explain details of canonical texts in political philosophy.

Students will be able to articulate and defend basic positions in political philosophy.​

Students will be able to write coherently and rigorously about abstract philosophical issues raised by political debates.

• Mind, Knowledge and Reality (PHIL103) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 60:40 Aims

• To introduce students to some of the main topics in metaphysics: God, the mind/body problem, personal identity, time and free will.

• To introduce students to the philosophical system of Rene Descartes.​

Learning Outcomes

Students should be able to distinguish between sound and unsound arguments.

Students should be able to build a case for a specific metaphysical position, by weighing theoretical virtues, such as Occam''s razor, and metaphysical principles, such as the conceivability principle and the principle of sufficient reason.​

​Students should be able to extract an argument from text, render put it into standard form, and critically evaluate its premises.

​Students should be able to explain Descartes'' philosophical system.

Students should be able explain the basic issue, and the standard views, pertaining to five topics in contemporary metaphysics: God, personal identity, consciousness, free will and time.​

​Students should be able to able to argue for a specific view pertaining to five issues in contemporary metaphysics: God, personal identity, consciousness, free will and time.

​Students should be able to discuss reality in the partially abstract manner distinctive of metaphysical thought.

• Reading and Writing Philosophy 1 (PHIL107) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 0:100 Aims

• To introduce the academic skills and knowledge necessary for the critical reading and writing of philosophy.

• ​To foster in students an appreciation of the value of philosophy.

• ​To enable students to read effectively and to takes notes efficiently.

• To develop students'' skill in presenting complex ideas to an audience and in practicing the intellectual virtues associated with philosophical discussion.  
• To promote students'' skill in writing rigorously argued, well-written and well-presented philosophical essays.

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• ​To promote students'' research skills.

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Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to explain and evaluate some central work  in aesthetics and the philosophy of art.

​Students will be able to explain and evaluate some work relevant to a selected specialist topic in ethics. (This topic may vary from year to year. Examples include: human treatment of animals; ethics and the environment.)

​Students will be able to explain and evaluate some central work about political liberty.

​Students will be able to give structured seminar presentations and to conduct discussion in a manner that displays the intellectual virtues associated with philosophy.

​Students will be able to write essays that embody a philosophically-informed approach to argumentation.

Students will be able to use the Harvard referencing system. ​

Students will be able to conduct independent research in support of their work, using appropriate print and online resources (including the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Philosopher''s Index). ​
• Reading and Writing Philosophy 2 (PHIL108) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 0:100 Aims

• To consolidate the academic skills and knowledge necessary for the critical reading and writing of philosophy.

• To consolidate students'' appreciation of the value of philosophy.​

• To consolidate students'' ability to read and take notes effectively.​

• To consolidate students'' skill in presenting complex ideas to an audience and in practising the intellectual virtues associated with philosophical discussion.​

• ​To consolidate students'' skill in writing rigorously argued, well-written and well-presented essays.

• To consolidate students'' research skills. ​

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to explain and evaluate some central work from the early modern period, covering the following topics: (i) perception; (ii) personal identity; (iii) freedom and determinism.

Students will develop greater skill and confidence in giving structured seminar presentations and in conducting discussion in a manner that displays the intellectual virtues associated with philosophy.

Students will develop greater skill and confindence in writing essays that embody a philosophically-informed approach to argumentation.

​Students will be able to use the Harvard system of referencing.

​Students will be able to conduct independent research in support of their work, using appropriate print and online resources (including the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Philosopher''s Index).

• Philosophy and The Arts (PHIL110) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester Second Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 60:40 Aims

• ​​​​To consider philosophically relevant questions and concepts pertaining to the scope of art and the evaluation of artworks.

• To enable students to reflect philosophically about their intuitions regarding the arts and about their appreciation of particular artistic media.​

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to examine whether the concept of art may apply to objects and activities from different historical periods and cultural contexts.​

Students will be able to consider critically the impact that cultural institutions and their practices may have on philosophical theorising concerning the arts.​

Students will be able to assess the view that artistic value is a matter of subjective response to it.

Students will be able to analyse the character of self-expression through art, and assess its significance in evaluating artworks.​

Students will be able to evaluate the argument that artistic intentions must inform our appreciation of works of art.​

Students will be able to define and expound the conception of beauty in a narrow and in a wide sense.​

Students will be able to outline and discuss the significance of the distinction between artistic and aesthetic properties.​

Students will be able to argue for or against the view that artworks are unrepeatable.​

Students will be able to interpret the ways in which content and meaning is attributed to art that does not seem to represent anything.​

Students will be able to provide a critical account of the possible links between seeking truth and creating good art.​

Students will be able to discuss whether art can function as a vehicle for demonstrating what is morally good.

• Critical, Analytical and Creative Thinking (PHIL112) Level 1 Credit level 15 Semester First Semester Exam:Coursework weighting 60:40 Aims

• T o introduce students to the concepts and methods of informal logic and to enable students to use these concepts and methods in assessing arguments both within and outside philosophy.

• ​To help students to think more logically themselves, and to locate and remove inconsistencies in their own thoughts.

• ​To introduce students to methods of causal, statistical and probabilistic reasoning and to enable students to identify and avoid causal, statistical and probabilistic fallacies.

• ​To enable students to think creatively...