Module POC3085 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3085: Imagining the Good Life: From Agora to the American Dream
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
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:
The Good Life in Antiquity
- Aristotle and the Perfect Life
- Epicurus and the Pleasure Principle
- Hypatia, Hysteria and Happiness
The Good Life in Modernity
- Bentham and the Greatest Happiness Principle
- Mill and the Liberated Life
- Wollstonecraft and miserable modern women
- Social Justice and Welfare: Rawls, Sen and Nussbaum
The Good Life in Contemporary Crisis
- Wellbeing and Welfare Reform
- The American Dream and the Zombie Apocalypse
- A Zero Carbon Life.
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 & Teaching activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 30 | Preparation for seminars |
| Guided independent study | 45 | Reading set texts (30 hours) and secondary material (15 hours) |
| Guided independent study | 53 | Assessment preparation |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
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.
Barnes, J., ed. The Complete Works of Aristotle, Volumes I and II, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. (selected passages TBC)
Berger, F.R. (1984) Happiness, Justice and Freedom: the Moral and Political Philosophy of John Stuart Mill. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bhikhu C Parekh (1973) Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832. Bentham's Political Thought. Croom Helm
Bok, D (2010) The Politics of Happiness Princeton: Princeton University Press
Kenny, A. (1992) Aristotle on the Perfect Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Nussbaum, M.C. (2004) Mill between Aristotle and Bentham. Daedalus 133:2, pp60-68
Nussbaum, M.C. (1999) Sex and Social Justice. Oxford University Press.
Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press.
Sen, A, K. (1985) Wellbeing, Agency and Freedom: The Dewey Lectures 1984. The Journal of Philosophy 82:4 pp169-221
Wollstonecraft, M. Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796)
