Module POL2050 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2050: Political Philosophy
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
To introduce students to a range of positions in contemporary political theory and philosophy, familiarizing them with key texts, authors and debates, such as those concerning, liberty, justice, community, equality, identity, recognition, citizenship, power and the critique of power. To introduce students to a range of theoretical/methodological approaches associated with these literatures and to explore some of their implications in the assessment of modern societies, their values and their institutional arrangements. To develop in students the ability to critically reflect about the nature and scope of political discourse.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate substantive knowledge of the theories and issues considered, their significance and the major criticisms made of them. 2. summarize and assess a range of political philosophies and theoretical discourses. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. identify and discuss the major concepts deployed in a theory and to apply them in making and analyzing moral and political judgments. 4. engage in both sympathetic interpretation and reasoned criticism of such theories, and to evaluate different interpretations. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. construct and evaluate ideas, to relate to various intellectual languages. 6. formulate and express ideas at different levels of abstraction, to assess and criticise the views of others. |
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:
Rawls’s theory of justice and his critics; the liberal communitarian debate; theories and types of equality; theories of liberty: negative, positive, republican; deliberation and public reason; citizenship, multiculturalism, recognition, and solidarity; civic, cosmopolitan, and environmental rights/duties; forms of powers and their critique; discourses of difference.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 27.5 | 122.5 |
...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 | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activity | 10 | 10 x 1 hour tutorials |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activity | 1 | Review session |
| Guided Independent study | 122.5 | A variety of private study tasks directed by module leader |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2000 Word | 1-6 | Written |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | 100 | 2 hours | 1-6 | Written feedback |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | Examination (2 hours) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
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.
J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice;
R. Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia;
M. J. Sandel, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice;
I. Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty;
Phillip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government;
R. Dworkin, Sovereign Virtue;
Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined;
G.A. Cohen, Rescuing Justice and Equality;
C. Taylor, The Politics of Recognition;
W. Kymlicka, Liberalism, Community and Culture;
Brian Barry, Equality and Culture: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism;
J. Rawls, Political Liberalism;
J. Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy;
J. Waldron, Law and Disagreement;
M. Foucault, Power: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984, Volume III;
M. Walzer, Spheres of Justice;
Steven Lukes, Power. A Radical View;
J. Derrida, Spectres of Marx
