The Philosophy of Nature - 2 (PHL2011B)
This module description relates to the academic year 2011/2.
| Lecturer(s) | Professor Lenny Moss & staff |
|---|---|
| Module level | 2 |
| Credit Value | 15.00 |
| ECTS Value | 7.5 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | One term. Term Two. |
| Total Student Study Time | 150 hours (10 x 90 minute lectures, 10 x 1 hr tutorials, 125 hours private study) |
Aims
"Humans are Obviously Unique. But it is Surprisingly Hard to Say Why." (New Scientist, May 24-30, 2008). This module will take an interdisciplinary approach to look for clues to this puzzle drawing upon the insights of existential phenomenology, philosophical anthropology, and cutting edge work in the contemporary empirical human, behavioural and brain sciences.
Are Humans a part of nature or apart from nature? Can human reason, morality and culture be understood as 'natural' without 'reducing' such to a conspiracy of selfish genes? In what ways are humans continuous with other parts of nature, especially other animals, and in what ways are humans distinctive? How does understanding humans as part of nature affect our understanding of nature as a whole? What are the moral, political and historical implications of how we understand the nature of human nature?
Intended Learning Outcomes
Module-specific skills:
After completing this module students should possess an understanding of the basic conceptual issues and challenges at stake in the idea of nature including human nature. They will have gained experience in philosophically analysing the ways in which these problems have been and/or could be addressed. The idea or ideas we have of nature will no longer be in a taken-for-granted background but will have become mobilized as a critical resource for philosophical reflection on a number of levels.
Discipline-specific skills:
Basic notions of 'nature' and 'human nature' are presupposed in all other areas of philosophy and in the sciences yet are seldom made explicit. On completion of the module students should possess knowledge and a perspective that will confer greater depth to their reflections in all areas of the discipline.
Personal and key skills:
This module will refine the student's ability to develop ideas and construct arguments and critically evaluate the ideas and arguments of others. On the completion of the module students should have the ability to question received wisdom. They will be able to critically examine texts, and to write cogent and convincing essays.
Learning/Teaching Methods
Weekly lecture/discussions and weekly seminars.
Assignments
One 1500 to 2,000 word essay (50% of final mark) and a 90 minute examination (50% of the final mark).
Assessment
One 1500 to 2,000 word essay (50% of final mark) and a 90 minute examination (50% of the final mark).
Syllabus Plan
Heidegger: on human being as "Being-in-the-World."
Plessner: on the orderings of life and the eccentricity of human positionality.
Gehlen: on human underdevelopment and the need for compensation.
Merleau-Ponty: on motor intentionality.
Dreyfus: on the phenomenology of everyday skill acquisition.
De Waal: on the ethology of moral emotions.
Cassirer: on humans as the "symbolic animals."
Tomasello: on shared attention and intentionality and the origins of culture.
Donald: on "mimesis" and the nature of human consciousness.
Gallagher: on the body and intersubjectivity.
McDowell and Dreyfus: the debate over the nature of human action and cognition.
Indicative Basic Reading List
A class Reader with articles by Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Plessner, Gehlen, Dreyfus, McDowell, De Waal, Cassirer, Tomasello, Donald, Gallagher and others.
