University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 2 | Credits: 5

This module will introduce students to the philosophy of nature with particular emphasis on the 'naturephilosophy (Naturphilosophie)' of Friedrich Schelling. Schelling's challenge to both Newton's mechanical view of nature and Kant's subjectivism will be discussed. Following a detailed exploration of Schelling's work, the engagement with the question of nature of a number of Phenomenologists will be investigated with respect to Schelling. The final section of the module will examine the work of the New Materialists and the manner in which they re-conceptualize nature. In that context Feminist approaches will be emphasised paricularly as they critically engage with the culture/nature, female/male and subject/object divide.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Critically Analyse Primary Texts
  2. Recognize how philosophical assumptions are operative in everyday engagements with the natural world.
  3. Critically analyse and compare the responses of different theories in the light of specific issues with respect to nature.
  4. Write coherently, synthesising concepts about distinct aspects of human experience and practice.
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (65%)
  • Oral, Audio Visual or Practical Assessment (20%)
  • Department-based Assessment (15%)
Teachers
Reading List
  1. "First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature" by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling
    ISBN: 0791460037.
    Publisher: SUNY Press
  2. "The Ages of the World (1811)" by F. W. J. Schelling
    ISBN: 1438474067.
    Publisher: Suny Press
    Chapters: 1 & 2
  3. "Introduction to Metaphysics" by Martin Heidegger
    ISBN: 9780300186123.
    Publisher: Yale University Press
  4. "Poetry, Language, Thought" by Martin Heidegger
    ISBN: 9780060937287.
    Publisher: Harper Collins
    Chapters: 4 & 5
  5. "New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies" by Dolphijn, Rick
    ISBN: 978-160785281.
    Publisher: Open Humanities Press
  6. "Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom" by F. W. J. Schelling
    ISBN: 0791468747.
    Publisher: SUNY Press
    Chapters: 1
  7. "Theoretical Philosophy After 1781" by Immanuel Kant
    ISBN: 9780521460972.
    Chapters: 2
  8. "Nature" by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
    ISBN: 9780810114456.
  9. "Meeting the Universe Halfway" by Karen Barad
    ISBN: 9780822339175.
    Publisher: Duke University Press
    Chapters: 3,4,7& 8
  10. "Philosophies of Nature After Schelling" by Iain Hamilton Grant
    ISBN: 9781847064325.
    Publisher: Continuum
  11. "The Conspiracy of Life" by Jason M. Wirth
    ISBN: 9780791457931.
    Publisher: SUNY Press
  12. "The New Schelling" by Judith Norman,Alistair Welchman
    ISBN: 9780826469410.
    Publisher: Bloomsbury
  13. "Schelling's Philosophy" by G. Anthony Bruno
    ISBN: 0198812817.
    Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
  14. "Feminism, Science, and the Philosophy of Science" by J. Nelson
    ISBN: 0792341627.
    Publisher: Springer
    Chapters: 12 & 13
  15. "What if Culture was Nature all Along?" by Vicki Kirby
    ISBN: 9781474419307.
    Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
  16. "The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology" by Edmund Husserl
    ISBN: 081010458X.
    Publisher: Northwestern University Press
    Chapters: Part 2
  17. "Barbarian Principle, The" by Jason M Wirth,Patrick Burke
    ISBN: 1438448481.
    Publisher: SUNY Press
    Chapters: 3, 4, 7 & 8
The above information outlines module PI3105: "Philosophy of Nature" and is valid from 2022 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.