TIMETABLE:
Wednesday 11am, 12pm, and 1pm
In Moore 04-5 with Dr Finn, or Bedford 0-07 with Dr Spinney
ASSESSMENT:
Portfolio (60%): Three short written exercises from tutorials, deadline 8th Dec.
Essay (40%): 1,500 words on one of a list of set questions, deadline 12th Jan.
Presentation (formative): Each week, one student per tutorial group.
CONTACT:
Suki Finn: suki.finn@rhul.ac.uk
Oliver Spinney: oliver.spinney@rhul.ac.uk
QUICK INFO:
TIMETABLE:
- Lectures: Monday 2pm Horton LT1
- Seminars: Monday 3pm and 4pm International 031
RESOURCES:
- (MT): Marianne Talbot (2017) Critical Reasoning: A Romp through the Foothills of Logic for the Complete Beginner, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
- (M&A): Lepore, E. and Cumming, S. (2013) Meaning and Argument: An Introduction to Logic through Language, Wiley-Blackwell, Revised 2nd edition
- (forallx): Magnus, P. D. and Button, T. (2023) forall x: Calgary. An Introduction to Formal Logic, Creative Commons license
ASSESSMENT:
- Test (30 minutes) 50% Part I
- Exam (2
hours) 50% Part II
CONTACT:
- Suki Finn suki.finn@rhul.ac.uk
- Office hours: Monday 12-2pm McCrea 1-46 or MS Teams by arrangement
This course examines some of the major metaphysical and epistemological problems that arise when attempting to understand how mind and language figure in human interactions with and within the world. It centres on attempts to conceptualise, solve, or avoid mind-body related problems in the analytic tradition and aims to contrast these with phenomenological investigations of cognate phenomena.
AIMS
Having successfully completed this course students will be able to:
1. appreciate critically how the rationalist and empiricist traditions in philosophy influence contemporary thought in the philosophy of mind;
2. understand the continuing relevance of the mind-body problem to the question of what it is to be a human being;
3. make critical conceptual connections between the analytic and European traditions in philosophy with respect to their concern with understanding language, subjectivity, and the phenomenology of experience;
4. comprehend the difficulties and importance of conceptualising the relationship between thought and language;
5. understand the importance of consciousness to some contemporary debates in philosophy, psychology and cognitive science.
Module Summary
This course will explore the central developments in modern philosophy occurring between the foundation of modern empiricism and rationalism by Locke and Descartes in the 17th century, and the emergence of Kant’s philosophical system in the late 18th century. The course will look at figures from the two traditions, exploring the key theories they expound, and the arguments used to support these theories.
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the main philosophical positions of philosophers in the empiricist and rationalist traditions;
2. Critically evaluate the validity of the key arguments supporting these positions;
3. Understand the importance of these traditions to the development of later philosophy;
4. Express their ideas in writing showing knowledge, understanding and critical evaluation;
5. Demonstrate their ability to read closely a range of different philosophical texts.
QUICK INFO:
TIMETABLE:
- Lectures: Thursday 1pm Horton Lecture Theatre 1
- Seminars: Thursday 2pm and 3pm Internation 244
ASSESSMENT:
- Essay (2000 words) 50% midday, from part I, deadline noon Friday 3rd November 2023
- Online 'take home' exam (3
hours, 1200 words) 50%, from part II, 10am-1pm Friday 12th January 2024
CONTACT:
Suki Finn: suki.finn@rhul.ac.uk
Office hours: Wednesday 2pm, Thursday 12pm, McCrea 1-46