07/28/20 HC450 Philosophical Inquiry | University of Brighton

HC450 Philosophical Inquiry View Online

214 items

Course Information (1 items)

Course InformationPage

Course Outline and Reading List (1 items)

The course reader contains the required seminar reading for every topic on the course.You should bring both the reader and your prepared notes to every class. To develop yourcritical thinking skills and understanding, aim to read some of the texts from the furtherreading list as as well. The texts are listed here as they would be for a bibliographic essayreference, so you can take them as a shining example. Please consult the referencingguide you receive for further details on how to reference texts correctly.

Topic 1- Introduction (17 items)

Lecture 1: What philosophy is not Lecture 2: What philosophy is (1 items)

What is philosophy? The love of wisdom, sure, but what is that supposed to mean? What is (or are) the kind(s) of wisdom, or knowledge, which the philosopher are seeking, or oughtto be seeking? Why do we engage in philosophy, and what precisely is it that we engage inwhen we do philosophy? Is doing philosophy simply about being logical, such as, forexample, engaging in mathematics? Is it about being rational? Is it about understandinglanguage and the limitations it places on our access to, and understanding of, the world? Isit an investigation into whether or not there is a God, a life after death? Is it about truth orhappiness or beauty – or indeed all three of them? Would it make sense for there to be aphilosophy that is not concerned with how we ought to live our lives, but simply withclarifying concepts and making analytic inferences? Is it the case that philosophy isnecessarilycritical? The two lectures of this first week will introduce to you to differentways of doing philosophy, of seeking philosophical knowledge. They will also give you asense of how we do, and don't do, philosophy at the Brighton School of Humanities – andwhy.

 

Seminar: What is philosophy? (1 items)

Seminars are the backbone of our degree, and in this first seminar, your seminar tutor willexplain to you what this means. From the second seminar onwards, you will be expected

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to come into your seminar with four points or questions written down: two points related tothe readings, and two points related to the lecture (or all four points related to thereadings in case you missed the lecture for legitimate reasons). You will be expected toraise at least two of these points during the seminar: one related to the reading, and onerelated to the lecture. Seminar presentations will be allocated in this first seminar as well.If you miss it, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure you are allocated a presentation. Yourseminar tutor will also inform you about how seminars are marked (i.e. what the markingcriteria are), what the rules for absences and absence notification are, and how unnotifiedabsences (and too many notified absences) will affect your mark. 

 

 

Reading (3 items)

The Simile of the Cave, Part VII. Ch. 7. - Henry Desmond Pritchard Lee, M. S. Lane, Plato,2007

Chapter

"The Question "Why Do I Do Philosophy?" by James Grant | Radical PhilosophyArticle

Here and now: letters, 2008-2011 - Paul Auster, J. M. Coetzee, 2014Book

Additional Reading (12 items)

Do you think what you think you think?: the ultimate philosophical quiz book - JulianBaggini, Jeremy Stangroom, 2006

Book

Think: a compelling introduction to philosophy - Simon Blackburn, 2001Book

Philosophy: a very short introduction - Edward Craig, 2002Book

The Oxford companion to philosophy - Ted Honderich, 2005Book

An introduction to philosophical analysis - John Hospers, 1997Book

Philosophy in practice: an introduction to the main questions - Adam Morton, 2004Book

What does it all mean?: a very short introduction to philosophy - Thomas Nagel, c1987Book

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Uncritical theory: postmodernism, intellectuals and the Gulf War - Christopher Norris, 1992Book

An introduction to philosophy - Jon Nuttall, 2002Book

Introduction to philosophy: classical and contemporary readings - John Perry, MichaelBratman, John Martin Fischer, c2007

Book

The Republic - C. J. Rowe, Plato, 2012Book | Any edition

Philosophy matters: an introduction to philosophy - Roger Trigg, 2002Book

PART 1: ETHICS, POLITICS & HUMAN NATURE (68 items)

Topic 2: Free Will (14 items)

Lecture 1: Am I free to act? (1 items)

Perhaps all of us intuitively believe that (at least some of) our actions are within ourcontrol. We think that while we switched off the television, we could have left it on; thatwhile we stayed home, we could have chosen to go to the demonstration. Philosophy,however, has long debated whether the freedom that we subjectively experience is indeedreal, or is, instead, an illusion. In this lecture we will look at arguments against 'free will',which typically claim that we are not free, because all of our actions are determined (byphysical events in our brains, by our genetic makeup, by social conditions or by God's will).You will be asked to consider whether any version of 'human freedom' survives the assaultof 'determinism'.

 

 

Wellbeing talk taking place between the two lectures!

Lecture 2: Moral freedom, political freedom and determinism (1 items)

Does it really matter whether or not we are free to act? One answer is that it does,because it only makes sense to praise or blame people for their actions if those actionswere freely undertaken. Imagine a vicious murderer, whom scientists tell us has been bornwith a genetic propensity to aggression, and a brain physically incapable of feelingempathy. Would that mean the murderer was not morally responsible for her actions?Would it mean she could not justifiably be punished? Were Hitler's actions freelyundertaken, or were they determined by social or psychological factors? This lectureexplores questions about human freedom and responsibility that have fascinated

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philosophers, historians, novelists and political theorists. One cannot live critically in ourworld without asking questions about the nature and scope of our freedom, and what thisimplies about our ethical and political responsibilities.

 

Additional skill taught in this week's lectures

How to take notes from sources

 

 

Seminar: Was Hitler responsible for his actions? Or were they the resultof a set of forces beyond his control? (1 items)

Seminar Task

 

Come into your seminar with four points, written down: two related to the readings, two tothe lecture. You are asked to raise at least two of these points, one related to the reading,the other to the lecture. A "point" could, for example, be a question (i.e. about somethingyou haven't understood, or are seeking clarification for); an argument (i.e. you state whyyou agree or disagree with something you have encountered in the lecture of readings);pointing towards further reading you have done on the topic; or simply an invitation to theclass to reflect on a particular issue together. The "four-point rule" continues, as a task, forthe rest of the term and, indeed, for the rest of your degree.

Reading (3 items)

Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility - Harry G. Frankfurt, 1969-12-04Article

Free will - Graham McFee, 2000Book

Punishment: the supposed justifications - Ted Honderich, 1971Book

Additional Reading (8 items)

The free will problem -Diane Collinson, Open University. Problems of Philosophy Course Team, 1973

Book

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Determinism, free will, and moral responsibility - Gerald Dworkin, 1970Book

How free are you?: the determinism problem - Ted Honderich, 2002Book

Free will - Robert Kane, 2001Book

The Oxford handbook of free will - Robert Kane, 2005Book

Free will - D. J. O'Connor, 1972Book

Mind, brain, and free will - Richard Swinburne, 2013Book

Free will - Gary Watson, 1982Book

Topic 3: An Introduction to Ethics (39 items)

Lecture 1: Is/Ought (1 items)

Whatever world you live in, and whatever degree programme you're doing, the allegeddistinction between facts ('is') and values ('ought') shapes how you live in that world andhow you understand it. Are there straightforward historical facts or are they all imbricatedwith particular values? Is the claim that a particular play or novel is better than some otherplays or novels factual or value-laden? Are there values common across all cultures or areonly facts common? Does the distinction actually hold up?

Lecture 2: Ethics and ‘natural rights’ (1 items)

The idea of 'rights' is common to all the degrees on this programme: people are said to beborn with rights; to acquire rights; not to have rights; or to have their rights denied. Suchclaims are politically and morally central; people die in their defence or prosecution. Butunless we have at least a basic grasp of the issues involved in making assertions aboutrights we can't evaluate those assertions; and if we can't do that, then we don't knowwhich rights, if any, may be worth dying for.

 

Additional skill taught in this week's lectures

The lecture serves as a brief introduction on "how to write an essay". In this lecture, youwill also receive written essay advice, as well as a document which explains how to doreferencing, and how to compile a bibliography. You are expected to read all thesedocuments for your upcoming pre-essay tutorials for HI and PI, respectively.

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Seminar: Debating abortion: are there moral facts? (1 items)

Seminar Task

Using the "OneSearch" function on the library website or the "jstor" website, identify onerecent journal article that deals with moral questions pertaining to abortion (you don'tneed to read it). Also using the "OneSearch" function, or finding book reviews on jstor, orbrowsing the internet more generally, identify one monograph (i.e. single-authored book)that at least partly deals with the morality of abortion. Furthermore, identify one chapteron any moral issue (e.g. abortion or otherwise) in an edited book. You don't actually needto be able to get hold of the monograph and the edited book in order to be able tocomplete this task. Come into the seminar with a mini-bibliography, in which you providethe full bibliographical reference for the journal article, the monograph and the bookchapter in the way it's done in the referencing guide handed out to you in the lecture.Make sure you complete this task as precisely as you can, and you understand howcompiling a bibliography works, as this is crucial for your essays.

 

Pre-Essay Tutorial Task

 

Your PI essay is due soon. So you need to make sure you attend a pre-essay tutorial eitherthis week or early next week (depending on the availability of your seminar tutor, pleasecheck with them!). What you need to bring into your pre-essay tutorial is: (1) a brief draftintroduction, in which you state your argument and structure; (2) a couple of footnotes (todemonstrate to your seminar tutor that you know how to do footnotes), and (3) abibliography of at least five items. 

Reading (5 items)

A treatise of human nature - David Hume, Lewis Amherst Selby-Bigge, P. H. Nidditch, 1978Book

Language, truth and logic - A. J. Ayer, 1990Book

Creating Facts and Values - Ruth Anna Putnam, 1985-04Article

Philosophy and the morality of abortionArticle

Language, truth and logic - A. J. Ayer, 2001Book

Additional Reading (31 items)

The duck that won the lottery: and 99 other bad arguments - Julian Baggini, 2008

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Book

The pig that wants to be eaten: 100 experiments for the armchair philosopher - JulianBaggini, 2006

Book

Ethics - Julian Baggini, 2012Book

Does ethics have a chance in a world of consumers? - Zygmunt Bauman, Institutfur die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Vienna, Austria), 2009

Book

Ethics - Piers Benn, Dawsonera, 1998Book

Living philosophy: an introduction to moral thought - Ray Billington, 2003Book

Getting what you want?: a critique of liberal morality - Robert Brecher, 1998Book

Rescuing justice and equality - G. A. Cohen, c2008Book

Contemporary debates in moral theory - James Lawrence Dreier, Dawsonera, 2006Book

Life's dominion: an argument about abortion and euthanasia - Ronald Dworkin, 1995Book

Ethics - Dwight Furrow, 2005Book

Causing death and saving lives - Jonathan Glover, 1990Book

Eight theories of ethics - Gordon Graham, 2004Book

Theories of ethics: an introduction to moral philosophy with a selection of classic readings- Gordon Graham, 2011

Book

Moral relativism and moral objectivity - Gilbert Harman, Judith Jarvis Thomson, 1996Book

The is-ought question: a collection of papers on the central problem in moral philosophy -W. D. Hudson, 1969

Book

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Moral philosophy: a guide to ethical theory - Daniel Cardinal, Gerald Jones, JeremyHayward, 2006

Book

A short history of ethics: a history of moral philosophy from the homeric age to thetwentieth century - Alasdair MacIntyre, 2002

Book

The moral philosophers: an introduction to ethics - Richard Norman, 1998Book

Interfering with Nature - Richard Norman, 1996Article

Can ethics provide answers?: and other essays in moral philosophy - James Rachels, 1997Book

Moral philosophy - D. D. Raphael, 1981Book

Moral philosophy from Montaigne to Kant: an anthology - J. B. Schneewind, 2002Book

A companion to ethics - Peter Singer, 1993Book

Ruth Anna Putnam and the Fact-Value Distinction - J. J. C. Smart, 1999Article

Basic moral concepts - Robert Spaemann, 1989Book

Morality in practice - James P. Sterba, 2012Book

Ethics: the big questions - James P. Sterba, 2009Book

Ethics: an introduction to moral philosophy - Noel Stewart, 2008Book

Moral theory: an introduction - Mark Timmons, 2013Book

Understand ethics - M. R. Thompson, M. R. Thompson, 2010Book

Topic 4: Utilitarianism and People as Ends in Themselves (15 items)

Lecture 1: Utilitarianism: Means and Ends (1 items)

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Whatever world you live in, and whatever degree programme you're doing, the distinctionbetween ends (what you're trying to achieve) and means (how you set about doing that) iscentral. For instance: does a good end (say, eradicating poverty, or getting readers of anovel to think about things in a new way) justify how you do it (say, relieving the rich oftheir wealth, or shocking readers with a particularly gruesome scene)? And sinceutilitarianism (a) says it does and (b) governs the actions of almost all politicians acrossthe world, we need to think about whether it's right or not. So, for example, does savingthe lives of 10000 people who'd otherwise be killed by their "own" government justifykilling all those who'll be caught up in the "humanitarian intervention" concerned? Orshould the Net be subject to censorship?

Lecture 2: People as Ends in Themselves (1 items)

Should the questions above make us uncomfortable? Are there some things outside suchcalculations? In particular, are there ways in which people should never be used,regardless of the consequences? Is treating a person as an object (as a means to an end)always wrong, whatever the circumstances? Revolutions, capital punishment,pornography, "terrorism" and everyday shopping are just a few examples where thequestion arises; and again, it's a question you can't avoid, whatever you're doing atuniversity and whatever sort of life you're trying to lead.

Staff Debate, 4:30pm: Robin Dunford and Michael Neu, Are Sweatshopsa Good Thing?PLEASE NOTE THAT ATTENDING THIS STAFF DEBATE IS MANDATORY

Seminar: Is the survival lottery a good idea? What does Harris’sthought-experiment imply about utilitarianism? Are sweatshops a goodthing? What are you taking from Le Guin’s piece? (1 items)

Seminar Task

No seminar task since it is your pre-essay tutorial and essay-submission week

Reading (3 items)

The Survival Lottery - John HarrisChapter

Those who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula LeGuinDocument

Of the Principle of UtilityChapter

Additional Reading (9 items)

Utilitarianism: a guide for the perplexed - Krister Bykvist, Dawsonera, 2009

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Book

Utilitarianism and its critics - Jonathan Glover, 1990Book

Utilitarianism - John Stuart Mill, c2000Book

Understanding utilitarianism - Tim Mulgan, 2007Book

Utilitarianism - Geoffrey Scarre, 1996Book

Utilitarianism - Geoffrey Scarre, 1996Book

Utilitarianism and beyond - Amartya Sen, Bernard Williams, 1982Book

Utilitarianism: for and against - J. J. C. Smart, Bernard Arthur Owen Williams, 1973Book

Utilitarian ethics - Anthony Quinton, 1989Book

PART 2: EPISTEMOLOGY, TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE (127 items)

Topic 5: Argument and Logic (18 items)

Lecture 1: An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis (1 items)

What is the difference between belief and knowledge, and how do these relate to theslippery concept of the truth? If, as a result of our accumulated knowledge of our universeand our social world, we cannot conceive of events that happen without being caused byprior events, could there remain any role for the idea of human freedom? Given that ourstudy of our histories, and of the societies and their world views that make up thosehistories, show that judgments of the good are socially constructed, is there any room leftfor defining what is good? If these are some of the key substantive questions inphilosophy, what is it that distinguishes a specifically philosophical approach to answeringthem?

Lecture 2: Good and Bad Arguments (1 items)

If you think that the very idea of citizenship and democracy entails observing the laws of apolitical community and accepting the 'will of the majority', does this mean you shouldalways obey the law? What do you do in the case of 'bad laws', or are these impossible

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objects in a society of citizens? If there exist international conventions, with the putativeforce of law, against the use of chemical weapons does it follow that an infringement ofthose conventions must be or should be punished? If so, who or what should be punished,and by what means should that be done? If we think members of a sophisticated societymust, in part, judge their cultural artifacts (books and films and art works, for example) bytheir consequences, should such a society ban the production or distribution or publicaccessibility (which?) of those texts that portray violence or savagery or depravity or cruelrevenge because representations might be emulated? What are the arguments that mightbe advanced for different positions on these questions, and which of them are validarguments? What ARE valid arguments in any subject area, discipline or context?

Seminar: What are good and bad arguments? Is Plato’s argument on“The Status of Women” valid? Which arguments are more persuasive,arguments for or against sweatshop labour? (1 items)

Seminar Task

Having recently listened to the debate that took place between Robin and Michael, dosome research and identify three little pieces on the internet (at least one from anewspaper; Nicholas Kristoff, for instance, writes on sweatshops for the New York Times!).Write a little paragraph on the following question: "Is it ok for me to buy clothes that havebeen produced in sweatshops, under dreadful working conditions (e.g., long hours, noholidays, no sick-leaves, no loo-breaks, low health and safety standards, risk of fatalaccidents)?" At the end of this paragraph, provide the bibliographical references for thesources you have found on the internet.

Post- and Pre-Essay Tutorial Task (1 items)

Remember that your second PI essay is due soon. This means that you will have toarrange for an essay tutorial (which is at the same time a post- and pre-essay tutorial)either this week, or early next. When you go to this tutorial, you need to have read thetutor's feedback on your first essay and present them with a plan on how to improve yourfirst essay (e.g. on how to improve the introduction, the structure, the referencing, thebibliography, the conclusion, the progression of thought, etc.).

Reading (4 items)

The Status of Women (Part VI)Chapter

Chapter 2Chapter

Chapter 18Chapter

Thinking from A to Z - Nigel Warburton, 2007Book

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Additional Reading (10 items)

The duck that won the lottery: and 99 other bad arguments - Julian Baggini, 2008Book

Political argument - Brian Barry, 2011Book

Critical thinking skills: developing effective analysis and argument - Stella Cottrell, 2011Book

The logic of real arguments - Alec Fisher, 2004Book

ReasoningChapter

Meaning and argument: an introduction to logic through language - Ernest LePore, SamCumming, 2009

Book | This is a text that takes the basic appreciation of argument one step closer toformal logic and the linguistic study of the limits of our language (start with chs. 2–5).

An introduction to the theory of knowledge - Dan O'Brien, 2006Book

Arguing well - John Shand, 2000Book

Critical thinking: an appeal to reason - Peg Tittle, 2011Book

Fundamentals of critical argumentation - Douglas N. Walton, 2006Book

Topic 6: Relativism (22 items)

Lecture 1: Peter Winch on Relativism (1 items)

The lectures in this this week are concerned with various forms of relativism, particularlyconceptual, cultural, and moral relativism. Any student of humanities, regardless of thedegree chosen, must be aware of the challenge posed by relativism. The first lectureexplores a paper by Peter Winch on the Zande. It addresses the question of whether wecan know if our science is superior to Zande magic, or whether we can only suppose thatthis is the case. We will discuss Winch's claim that "concepts used by primitive peoples(sic!) can only be interpreted in the context of the way of life of those people" and that"something can appear rational to someone only in terms of his understanding of what isand is not rational".

Lecture 2: Relativism(s): A Critique (1 items)

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The second lecture raises the question of whether or not the challenge posed by variousforms or relativism can be overcome. Is it the case that that truth exists only within aframework of culturally determined references? What would be the implications – for moralphilosophers, for example, or politicians – if the relativist view were correct? Is there a wayof refuting relativism? Does it suffice to say that something cannot both be true and falseat the same time (and in the same way), as the relativist apparently claims? Can one be arelativist without contradicting oneself? How would the relativist, who is surely supposedto be tolerant of differing views, criticise intolerance? Is the dichotomy between absolutismand relativism perhaps too simple, though? Can we accept relativist insights whilst holdingon to the idea of universal truth(s)? In addressing these and related questions, the lecturewill enable you to think about your own position on relativism. 

Staff Debate (4.30pm-5.30pm, BB and MD) (1 items)

Is relativism defensible? 

NB: PLEASE NOTE THAT ATTENDANCE OF THE STAFF DEBATE IS MANDATORY

Seminar: Is all knowledge relative? Is any knowledge relative? Is thereanything wrong with the Callatians eating the bodies of their deadfathers? (1 items)

Separate into relativist and non-relativists, and have a debate!

 

Seminar Task

 

No seminar tasks as PI essays are due. Make sure you attend your essay-tutorial wellprepared!

Reading (4 items)

Understanding a Primitive Society - Peter Winch, 1964Article

The Challenge of Cultural RelativismChapter

Reason and commitment - Roger Trigg, 1973Book

Is Understanding Religion Compatible with Believing - Alasdair MacIntyreChapter

Additional Reading (14 items)

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Relativism - Maria Baghramian, 2004Book

Fear of knowledge: against relativism and constructivism - Paul Artin Boghossian, 2006Book

Postmodernism and its ironies - Gideon Calder, 1997-9Article

Morality and cultural differences - John W. Cook, 2003Book

Varieties of relativism - RomHarre, Michael Krausz, 1996

Book

Culture and morality: the relativity of values in anthropology - Elvin Hatch, 1983Book

Rationality and relativism - Martin Hollis, Steven Lukes, 1982Book

Relativism and reality: a contemporary introduction - Robert Kirk, 1999Book

Relativism: a contemporary anthology - Michael Krausz, c2010Book

Who's to say?: a dialogue on relativism - Norman Melchert, c1994Book

Moral relativism: a reader - Paul K. Moser, Thomas L. Carson, c2001Book | In this book you can find texts on cultural (and other forms of) relativism, such

as J. Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism.”

Reclaiming truth: contribution to a critique of cultural relativism - Christopher Norris, 1996Book

Relativism - Paul O'Grady, 2002Book

Rationality - Bryan R. Wilson, 1970Book

Topic 7: Descartes (18 items)

Lecture 1: Descartes’ First Meditation (1 items)

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This week's lecture is about Descartes' first two Meditations. The topic dealt with in thislecture is relevant to all degree programmes, as one cannot study any subject in thehumanities without having some grasp of Descartes' method of doubt, as well as the wayin which Descartes attempts to find at least some certainty in the midst of doubt.

 

You all think you know some things for sure. But do you really? Perhaps you will no longerbelieve that you know anything at all after listening to the first lecture, which introducesyou to the method of Cartesian Doubt. The lecture confronts you with three arguments –the strongest arguments which Descartes could think of – against the common assumptionof the possibility of certainty. These are the arguments about illusion, dreaming, anddeception, respectively. 

Lecture 2: Descartes’ Second Meditation (1 items)

In the second lecture, we will closely track Descartes' attempt to find certainty in the midstof radical doubt.

 

The lecture takes you through Descartes' cogito argument ("I think therefore I am"),Cartesian Dualism, as well as Descartes' rationalism. It is also concerned with howDescartes's argument ultimately hinges on the existence of God, and how he tries to provethat. The lecture finishes with some reflections on the limitations of Descartes' account.What can we know if Descartes himself didn't succeed in overcoming the doubts heintroduced?

Seminar: What’s Descartes trying to do? Why? (What) do you think? (1items)

Seminar Task

Write a brief reflection on whether or not you think Descartes succeeds with his cogitoergo sum argument, using at least three sources. Your piece doesn't need to be long, but itneeds to contain at least three footnotes in which you reference each of the three (ormore) sources used.

Reading (3 items)

Rationalism - John Cottingham, 1997Book

The Elusive ‘I’Chapter

Cogito and SumChapter

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Additional Reading (12 items)

Descartes - John Cottingham, 1998Book

Descartes against the skeptics - E. M. Curley, 1978Book

Descartes: an analytical and historical introduction - Georges Dicker, c2013Book

Descartes -Andre Gombay, 2007

Book

Descartes - Marjorie Grene, 1985Book

Routledge philosophy guidebook to Descartes and the meditations - Gary C. Hatfield,Rene Descartes, 2003

Book

Descartes - JonathanRee, 1974

Book

Descartes for beginners - Dave Robinson, Chris Garratt, 1998Book

Descartes: a very short introduction - Tom Sorell, 2000Book

A beginner's guide to Descartes's Meditations - Gareth Southwell, 2007Book

Descartes's Meditations: an introduction - Catherine Wilson, 2003Book

Descartes - Margaret Dauler Wilson, 1978Book

Topic 8: How do we know what we know? (32 items)

Lecture 1: Rationalism and Empiricism Lecture 2: Idealism and

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Materialism (1 items)

Two questions: what are the sources of your knowledge, and what is the nature of whatexists in the Universe?

First, HOW do you know what you know? From where did the ideas in your head come? Areyou simply repeating things that you have learned (from your socialisation by parents,education processes, peers, and the mass media) as an infant, child, adolescent andadult? Even if that is the case, where do the propositions of that ascribed and absorbedknowledge come from? Do they emerge originally from human inquiry - an empiricalinvestigation of the world? How could they, since without some already existing knowledgeor ideas humans would not know what to inquire about or how to make inquiries aboutanything? Alternatively, is that simply the contingent ascription of beliefs whereas the coreof what provides you with knowledge is an innate property of your humanness? Howeverimportant empirical investigations of the world are, is it possible to assume that allknowledge comes from an inspection of that world (i.e. is an empiricist account ofknowledge tenable)? Most importantly, where would any social or historical or natural science find itself unless this question can be resolved? What account of an historical orsocial event can be given without adopting one or other position; how crippled would beour capacity to judge the 'truth' of any scientific discovery or historical explanation withoutan appreciation of this dilemma; how could we assess the aesthetic or moral value of anytext?

 

 

Second, of what is our universe made up? Is it composed of one substance (a monisticphilosophical position) or two (a dualist position)? What is/are the substance/s of reality - isit matter (a materialist philosophical position) or is it the set of ideas created by thecollective mind of humankind, or by the operation of minds, or the result of the operationof Spirit (an idealist position)? If the latter seems deeply implausible to us, as the creaturesof technologically sophisticated age, then a moment's philosophical reflection shouldregister the even more unlikely viability of the former. For how can we, as cognitive beingswhose cognitions can ONLY be of our experiences, EVER have access to a reality (e.g. amaterial reality) that lies behind or beyond those experiences? Now reflect on theimplications of these questions for every aspect of human intellectual endeavour. Whatprecisely does it mean, for example, when your view and assessment of the latest film ongeneral release is dismissed by your new friend as 'naïve idealism'; what precisely does itmean when your account of the origins of the First World War or of the Iranian Revolutionor of the military Oxford University Press in Chile is dismissed by your sister as 'a crudematerialist explanation'?

Seminar: How do we know what we know? (1 items)

Seminar Task

 

Use your time to begin to revise for your exam.

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Reading (3 items)

“Of the Principles of Human Knowledge" Part 1. Sects. 1–6Chapter

“Of the Academical or Sceptical Philosophy.”Chapter

“Knowledge"Chapter

Additional Reading (27 items)

Rationalism, empiricism and pragmatism: an introduction - Bruce Aune, 1970Book

Philosophy of social science: the philosophical foundations of social thought - Ted Benton,Ian Craib, 2011

Book

Unthinking Materialism? - A. Bieler, A. David Morton, 2004-05-01Article

Review - Review by: T. B. Bottomore, 1961

Article

Theories of international relations - Scott Burchill, 2009Book

Making history: agency, structure, and change in social theory - Alex Callinicos, 2004Book | Chapters 1-3.

Social theory: a historical introduction - Alex Callinicos, 2007Book | Chapters 1, 2 and 4.

Rationalism - John Cottingham, 1997Book

Philosophy: a very short introduction - Edward Craig, 2002Book

Empiricism and history - Stephen Davies, 2003Book

Understanding German idealism - Will Dudley, 2007Book

Idealism: the history of a philosophy - Jeremy Dunham, Iain Hamilton Grant, Sean Watson,

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2011Book | Introduction and Chapters. 2–5, 8 and 12.

Problems of empiricism - Paul Feyerabend, 1981Book

Social theory as science - Russell Keat, John Urry, 1982Book

Rationalism, empiricism and idealism: British Academy lectures on the history ofphilosophy - Anthony Kenny, British Academy, 1986

Book

The philosophy of literature - Peter Lamarque, 2009Book

Understanding empiricism - Robert G. Meyers, 2006Book

Cultural materialism - Andrew Milner, 1993Book

Objectivity, empiricism and truth - R. W. Newell, 1986Book

Empiricism and its evolution: a Marxist view - George Novack, 1968Book

Through a darkening glass: philosophy, literature and cultural change - D. Z. Phillips, 1982Book

Essays on historical materialism - John Rees, 1998Book

Berkeley's argument for idealism - Samuel Charles Rickless, c2013Book

Materialism - J. J. C. Smart, 1963-10-24Article

The minds of the moderns: rationalism, empiricism and the philosophy of mind - JaniceThomas, 2009

Book

‘New feminist materialisms’ - Iris van der Tuin, 2011-7Article

New historicism and cultural materialism: a reader - Kiernan Ryan, 1996Book

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Topic 9: Philosophy, Science, Democracy & Revision (37 items)

Lecture 1: Philosophy, Science, Democracy

Lecture 2: Revision

Seminar: Revision (1 items)

Seminar Task

Choose two past exam questions from 2015 PI exam paper, plan an answer to each, andbe ready to talk about your answers in the seminar.

Post-Essay Tutorial Task (1 items)

Remember to arrange for a post-essay tutorial, to be held either this week or early nextweek.

Reading (1 items)

There are no required readings this week.

Additional Readings on Philosophy and Science (additional readings ondemocracy to be recommended by CW) (8 items)

Philosophy of science: contemporary readings - Yuri Balashov, Alexander Rosenberg, 2002Book

An introduction to the philosophy of science - Lisa Bortolotti, 2008Book

What is this thing called science? - A. F. Chalmers, 2013Book | In four editions 1978, 1982, 1999 and 2013. In 3rd and 4th editions, chs. 2–7.

Theory and reality: an introduction to the philosophy of science - Peter Godfrey-Smith,ebrary, Inc, 2003

Book

The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of science - Peter K. Machamer, Michael Silberstein,2002

Book | Chapters 2-8.

The philosophy of the social sciences - Vernon Pratt, 1989Book

What is this thing called knowledge? - Duncan Pritchard, 2013Book

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Philosophy of science: a contemporary introduction - Alexander Rosenberg, 2012Book

Suggested Fictional Writings and Film (26 items)

Austerlitz - W. G. Sebald, 2011Book

Alone in Berlin - Hans Fallada, 2009Book

Dr Strangelove: or; how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb - Stanley Kubrick,2012

Audio-visual document

The outsider - Albert Camus, Joseph Laredo, 2000Book

Blindness -Jose Saramago, Giovanni Pontiero, Margaret Jull Costa, 2011

Book

The reluctant fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid, 2007Book

Sophie's world: a novel about the history of philosophy - Jostein Gaarder, 1997Book

Copenhagen: a play in two acts - Michael Frayn, c2000Book

Sophie's choice - William Styron, 2000Book

The hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle, 1974Book

The reader - Bernhard Schlink, 1997Book

King Lear - William Shakespeare, R. A. Foakes, 1997Book

The origins of the Second World War reconsidered: A.J.P. Taylor and the historians -Gordon Martel, 1999

Book

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre, Robert Baldick, 2000Book

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Vera Drake - Mike Leigh, 2008Audio-visual document

Lilya 4-Ever - Lukas Moodysson, 2002Audio-visual document

Never let me go - Kazuo Ishiguro, 2006Book

Schopenhauer's telescope - Gerard Donovan, 2004Book

Do androids dream of electric sheep? - Philip K. Dick, 2012Book

A distant shore - Caryl Phillips, 2004Book

Body of glass - Marge Piercy, Marge Piercy, 1992Book

The matrix - Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, 2009Audio-visual document

The possibility of an island - Michel Houellebecq, 2005Book

Biggles in Borneo: a 'Biggles squadron' story of the Second Great War - W. E. Johns, StuartTresilian, 1943

Book

The complete novels - George Orwell, 2001Book | Burmese Days

Ancestor stones - Aminatta Forna, c2006Book

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