PHIL 354 ADVANCED PHILOSOPHY SEMINAR
The new PHIL 354 unit, "Advanced Philosophy Seminar" is designed specifically for undergraduate students who have developed a strong interest in Philosophy, and especially for those intending to continue into Honours. It is a compulsory unit for entry into the Honours programme.
The course introduces students to cutting edge debates in philosophical research. In particular, it showcases the Department's active research programmes in the three main streams of "Ethics", "Mind and Metaphysics" and "Continental Philosophy" by presenting the contributions made by members of the Department in these current discussions.
Course Content
Each "stream" presents key discussions currently debated in its area, and possibly the contribution of the Department's researchers in these discussions.
The unit is organised in seminar form, with core readings and key secondary readings presented and discussed every week.
See the programme for 2007 on the next page.
Assessment structure
A series of short assessments at regular intervals to help explore the weekly readings: summaries, short conceptual analysis, individual presentations, etc.
Students, in consultation with the lecturers, choose an essay topic and prepare a detailed essay outline. This, and the long essay, is intended as preparation for the 5,000 word essays required in Honours.
Essay outline (500 words) 10%
Short assessments 25%
Essay on topic of choice (4,000 words) 65%
Programme 2007
Weeks 1-4: Ass. Prof. Nicholas Smith: "Work and the Struggle for Recognition"
"Work matters to us. It is not just of instrumental value, worth it just for the money: a good, fulfilling job seems to be integral to a fulfilled life. Our sense of well-being is inseparably bound up with how things are going at work. But how is this well-being sustained? What moral expectations do we bring to work and what happens when they are not met? We shall examine these questions by focusing on how claims for 'recognition' emerge through work."
Weeks 5-8: Dr Catharine Abell "The Problem of Tragedy"
"Hume claimed that tragedy presents a paradox, because we enjoy tragedy in virtue of its making us experience negative emotions: emotions that such as fear and anguish that are unpleasant to experience. I'll discuss the issue of whether tragedy does in fact present a paradox and of what the distinctive value of tragedy consists in."
Weeks 9-12: Ass. Prof. Catriona Mackenzie "Practical Identity and Narrative Agency"
"The question of how to conceptualise the relationship between our past, present, and future selves is a central concern of theorists of personal identity. Traditionally, philosophers have regarded this question as a metaphysical one, to be answered by identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions for continuity of personal identity over time. More recently, a number of philosophers have argued that this metaphysical focus bypasses the practical and evaluative issues that are central to our everyday concerns about continuity of identity over time. We will explore some of the issues that are brought into view when the focus of philosophical reflection on identity is shifted from metaphysical to practical and evaluative concerns. We will also consider the usefulness of the notion of narrative for articulating and responding to these issues". Discussion will be based on a collection of original essays on the topic, edited by Catriona Mackenzie and Kim Atkins, to be published in 2007.