Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL2060: Philosophy of Emotion

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

You will learn about the most influential philosophical accounts of the emotions, such as feeling theories and cognitive theories. You will also learn about different philosophical accounts of feelings, moods, and other affective experiences. Whereas the module will cover mainly philosophical theories of emotion, you will also learn about psychological studies of emotion.

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. Clearly and correctly illustrate a variety of philosophical accounts of the emotions; 2. Identify specific philosophical problems in the study of emotion;? 3. Evaluate a variety of accounts of the nature of emotions whilst developing your own perspective;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Illustrate a variety of philosophical positions on a specific topic;? 5. Evaluate, orally and in writing, different philosophical positions; 6. Distinguish between sound and unsound arguments, and provide constructive criticisms;
Personal and Key Skills	7. Engage in arguments verbally as an individual and in small groups; 8. Engage with and report accurately on existing written material.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover different philosophical theories of emotion, and focus on the relationship between the following phenomena:

-Emotion and the Body

-Emotion and Cognition

-Emotion and Feeling

-Emotion and Mood

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	128	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 lecture/discussion
Guided Independent Study	33	Assigned readings associated with each lecture
Guided Independent Study	10	Preparation for class discussion
Guided Independent Study	30	Preparation for first assigned essay
Guided Independent Study	55	Preparation for second assigned essay

Online Resources

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

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Basic readings:

Deonna, J. & Teroni, F. (2012). The Emotions: A Philosophical Introduction. Oxford University Press.?

Goldie, P. (2000). The Emotions: A Philosophical Exploration. Oxford University Press.?

James, W. (1884). What is an emotion? Mind, 9, pp. 188-205.?

Solomon, R. (2007). True to our Feelings: What our Emotions Are Really Telling Us. Oxford University Press.