What is the meaning of life? What’s so bad about death? How do you know the world exists outside your mind? Can you know other people have minds? What are minds and how are they related to brains? How do our words get their meanings?  Are you free to take this class or not, or was your choice determined even before your birth? Why is helping an old woman across the road morally right, but knocking her out and taking her money morally wrong? Are humans more valuable than chimpanzees, cats and cabbages? Does morality depend on god, or is rape immoral even if there is no god? Are there any good arguments for or against the existence of god? Is there any good reason to believe in god? What rights do individuals have? What makes a society just? Socrates claimed that only the examined life was worth leading. On this module, we will embark on a philosophical journey which will enable us to begin examining our lives and questioning our assumptions.

• Discuss philosophical theories in a critical, reflective manner.
• Explore and discuss some of the key questions and issues related to the study of philosophy.
• Use information from class and independent reading to construct an academically-sound argument.
• Compose coherent and well-structured essays and other assignments.

The module will be delivered through nine 2-hour sessions on weekday evenings from 7-9pm. These sessions will explore philosophical ideas through a combination of lectures, class discussion and small group work. Lectures will enable students to understand philosophical issues and to make sense of course readings. Discussion and written work will enable students to begin doing philosophy for themselves by thinking critically about philosophical questions and contributing to philosophical debate. Class sessions will be supplemented by resources available to students via Learning Central.

• The ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in class discussion or in written form
• The ability to work effectively with others in groups and to learn collaboratively through discussion and interaction
• The ability to think critically, analyse texts and ideas, evaluate arguments, and challenge assumptions.
• The ability to formulate and justify arguments and conclusions and present appropriate supporting evidence
• The ability to locate relevant resources in the library and online and use them appropriately in academic work
• The ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist  with information retrieval and assignment presentation
• The ability to independently organise study methods, manage time effectively, and prioritise workload to meet deadlines

Formative assessment / feedback will occur on a weekly basis through class discussion and group work.

Type of assessment % Contribution Title Duration (if applicable) Approx. date of Assessment Submission

Assignment 1 (Argument reconstruction) 10% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 250 words Week 4

Assignment 2 (Close analysis) 30% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 500 words Week 7

Assignment 3 (Argumentative essay) 60% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 750 words 1 week after final session

Syllabus content

The Philosopher’s Toolbox

This session will introduce philosophy by exploring the questions philosophers ask and the methods they use to answer them.

How do we know anything?

How do we know trees and planets exist when all the evidence we have is our experience of them?

Do other people have minds?

Can we know other people have experiences despite only having access to our own?

What are minds?

Are our minds identical with our brains? How could grey squidgy lumps experience the exquisite sound of Bach or the rich sensuousness of a chocolate truffle?

How free are we?

Did you freely choose to take this class? What if your choice could be predicted before your birth? Could it still be free in that case?

What makes acts morally right or wrong?

Why is helping an old woman across the road morally right, but knocking her out and taking her money morally wrong?

What makes a society just?

In what sense must the state treat all citizens equally? Are socio-economic inequalities unjust and, if so, what should be done about them?

What’s so bad about death?

Is death a bad thing? If so, what exactly is so bad about it?

Wisdom without answers

This final workshop will reflect on our philosophical journey so far and the ways in which that journey prepares us for ongoing critical engagement with philosophical questions through discussion and written work.

Indicative Reading and Resource List: 

Essential

Course reader

Thomas Nagel, What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1987)

Recommended

Descartes, René, Meditations on First Philosophy. In Descartes: Selected Philosophical Writings, translated by John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, 73–122. (Cambridge University Press 1988)

Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett, (eds,), The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul (Basic Books, 1981)

Louis P. Pojman, (ed.), The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature. 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2004)