Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL3053: History of Philosophy

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

Module Aims

You will gain a good understanding of some key problems addressed by early modern philosophers, including their rationale and various attempts at solving them. By making a critical study of these topics, focusing on primary texts, your skills in the analysis, evaluation and presentation of arguments will be enhanced.

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. Identify and cogently discuss the questions, themes and topics addressed by some early modern philosophers. 2. Critically distinguish and evaluate certain positions and arguments within early modern philosophy. 3. Conduct in-depth analysis of early modern philosophical texts in their historical and philosophical context.
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate a high level of understanding of the interrelation between historical events and philosophical developments. 5. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of different types of historical and philosophical analysis.
Personal and Key Skills	6. Demonstrate a significantly expanded philosophical vocabulary and understanding with respect to key ideas in early modern philosophy and how they relate to central ideas and theme in present-day philosophy. 7. Conduct research independently engaging in complex ideas and problems while developing original research insights. 8. Engage in complex and high level argumentation both orally and through writing.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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 in early modern philosophy:

Natural philosophy, including questions about methodology, natural laws, the nature of space and time, and God’s place in the universe.
Early modern epistemology, including a variety of scepticisms, as well as questions regarding the existence of innate ideas and the notion of a tabula rasa, theories of perception, and knowledge of substance.
Early modern philosophy of mind, including questions about the relationship between mind and body and whether or not animals have cognition, as well as problems of personal identity.
Early modern moral philosophy, including questions of belief, freedom, will, and the existence of God.
Early modern political philosophy, including questions of rights, the relationship between state and polis, and property ownership.

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
21.5	128.5	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 Activities	16.5	11 x 1.5 hour lectures.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	5	5 x 1 Hour fortnightly tutorials.
Guided Independent Study	45	Preparation for lectures and tutorial participation including reading, and preparing reading reports and answers to tutorial questions.
Guided Independent Study	83.5	Independent research for the first and final essays.

Online Resources

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