Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM057: Understanding and Interpretation in Political Thought

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The main aim of this module is to expose you to a variety of approaches and methodological positions in the history of political and philosophical thought. It also aims familiarise you with some of the key texts and debates on the theory and nature of interpretation.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. demonstrate knowledge of the main methodological debates on questions of interpretation and historical reconstruction of ideas. 2. demonstrate an ability to critically analyse arguments by reading and discussing key texts in seminars and essays; 3. demonstrate an ability to construct sophisticated arguments in oral presentations and written work;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. analyse political arguments; 5. criticise texts in political thought; 6. introduce discussions about the nature of political thought; 7. write well-argued essays and question received ideas about politics;
Personal and Key Skills	8. demonstrate abilities to construct and evaluate ideas; 9. formulate and express ideas at different levels of abstraction; and 10. assess and criticise the views of others.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

This module will engage with some of the main debates on the history of ideas and political thought, the relationship between text and context, between historical reconstruction and analytic interpretation, and on the nature of interpretation.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Historical Meaning
Intentionalism
Contextualism
Objectivity
Genealogy
Conceptual Change
Hermeneutics

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	278	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	22	11 x 2 hour seminars
Guided independent study	170	Research for and writing of Essays
Guided independent study	31	Preparation for presentation
Guided independent study	77	Preparation for Seminars

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).