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NUIG. Philosophy: 2004/05

   

BA First Year Requirements

Introduction to the History of Philosophy
Introduction to Practical Ethics
Contemporary Philosophy

BA Second Year Requirements

Moral & Political Philosophy
History of Ethics
Ancient Philosophy
Philosophy of Art &Literature
History of Contemporary Philosophy
History of Modern Philosophy
Bioethics

BA Final Year Requirements

Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology
Philosophy of Science
Readings in Metaphysics
Astronomy in the History of Ideas
History of Irish Thought
Topics in Applied Philosophy
Philosophy of Religion
Marxism & Existentialism
Extended Essay

 

 

First Year

Entry requirements: Apart from the requirements laid down for entry into Faculty, no special requirements apply for entry.

Dates of Semesters (Teaching)

Compulsory/Optional Courses:

All courses are compulsory for B.A. students

Schedule of Courses:

Individual Course Units:

Introduction to the History of Philosophy

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI107	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Prof. Pascal O'Gorman

Course description: The aim of this course (Introduction to the History of Philosophy) is to introduce the student to the principal themes in the History of Western Philosophy. By the end of the course the student should be capable of reading and enjoying some primary texts in the canon of Philosophy.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written exam at the end of second semester. Written course work (essay) - if required is added to the evaluation

Core text: The student will be directed to selected primary sources in the course of the lectures. B. Russell's History of Western Philosophy Routledge, 1995, is a useful secondary source.

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Introduction to Practical Ethics

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI108	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Mr. Joseph Mahon, M. A.

Course description: This course (Practical Ethics) provides a rigorous, but non-technical examination of a wide range of contemporary moral issues. Among the issues discussed are vivisection, abortion, cloning, euthanasia, capital punishment and war.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on an essay to be handed in at the end of second semester.

Core texts: J. Rachels, (ed.) Moral Problems. 3rd Ed. Harper & Row: New York 1979.
T. Regan, (ed.) Matters of Life and Death. Random House, New York 1980.
P. Singer (ed.), A Companion to Ethics. Blackwell, Oxford 1991.
W.H. Shaw (ed.), Social and Personal Ethics. Wadsworth, Belmont/Calif. 1993.
J. E. White (ed.), Contemporary Moral Problems. West Pub. Co: St. Paul,
1985, 1994.
H. Lafollette (ed.), Ethics in Practice, Blackwell: Oxford, 1977.

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Contemporary Philosophy

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI109	1 and 2	1 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Prof. Markus Wörner/Dr. Felix Ó Murchadha

Course description: The aim of this course (Contemporary Philosophy) is to introduce students to the main schools of philosophical thought in the 20th century and at the turn of the millennium. The course will discuss elements of phenomenology and existentialism, of analytical philosophy and the postmodernist debate. During the course some of the following authors are discussed in greater detail: E. Husserl, M. Heidegger, J.P. Sartre and J. Lyotard.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written exam at the end of second semester. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: R. Kearney et al. (eds.), The Continental Philosophy Reader, London:

BA Second Year Requirements

Moral & Political Philosophy
History of Ethics
Ancient Philosophy
Philosophy of Art &Literature
History of Contemporary Philosophy
History of Modern Philosophy
Bioethics

Second Year

Entry requirements: A pass in First Arts Philosophy or its equivalent in the case of exchange and visiting students.

Dates of Semesters (Teaching)

 

Schedule of Courses:

Individual Course Unit Details:

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Moral & Political Philosophy

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI210	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecture: Mr. Joseph Mahon, M.A./Dr. Allyn Fives

Course Description: This course (Moral & Political Philosophy) looks at moral issues in political philosophy, in particular, the principle of justice. It addresses a number of questions. What should be the content of justice, is justice primarily a set of rules or is it also a virtue, what type of reasoning is required to justify the rights and duties of justice, who can legitimately claim to enjoy the rights of justice, and who can legitimately determine the content of justice?

**This course is divided into two parts.

Part 1. Modern Political Philosophy
The history of political philosophy addresses a number of questions. It asks, in different social and political contexts, what dilemmas does political philosophy try to resolve and what type of certainty is ascribed to it? This part of the course analyses the work of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Marx, and Mill. Each of these thinkers defends different conceptions of justice, and offers different accounts of the nature of political philosophy.

Part 2. Contemporary Political Philosophy
This part of the course is concerned with political philosophy in the West since the end of the twentieth century, in particular the debate that has surrounded the work of John Rawls. According to Rawls, political philosophy is concerned with the substantive issue of the nature and content of justice. This course asks, how can political philosophy play a political role, and help in the evaluation of prevailing beliefs; and how should political philosophy address moral issues, in particular, the way conceptions of the good life relate to the rights and duties of justice. This course also discusses the work of R. Nozick, G. A. Cohen, A. MacIntyre, R. E. Goodin, B. Parekh, and M. Nussbaum.

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written exam. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core Text: Students will be directed to selected primary sources in the course of the lectures. Will Kymlicka's Contemporary Political Philosophy, (first or second edition),
G. H. Sabine & T. L. Thorson, A History of Political Theory, fourth edition,
J. S. McClelland's The History of Western Political Thought, are useful secondary sources.

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History of Ethics

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI230	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Dr. Heike Schmidt Felzmann

Course description: This course (History of Ethics) is an introduction to ethical thought in the history of Western Philosophy. Authors from Aristotle to Nietzsche will be discussed with regard to their historical background, their basic ethical concepts and the structure of their ethical theories. This course will enable students to understand and assess different approaches to moral philosophy.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written exam. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core text: A. MacIntyre, "A Short History of Ethics" Routledge, 1989.

Lawrence Becker, Charlotte Becker (eds.): "A History of Western Ethics" (New York: Garland, 1992)

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Ancient Philosophy

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI213	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Prof. Markus Wörner

Course description: The course (Ancient Philosophy) is a detailed discussion of major themes of practical philosophy discussed in Plato and Aristotle. Problems concerning the good life and the political structure of society will be discussed in conjunction with the analysis of the role of the art of public discourse (rhetoric) and dramatic art (poetics).

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on written exam. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: A selection of texts will be made available at the beginning of the course.
Plato, The Republic.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Rhetoric, Poetics.

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Philosophy of Art &Literature

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI217	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Dr. Tom Duddy/Dr. Felix O'Murchadha

Course description: One part of this course (Philosophy of Art and Literature) will introduce students to the phenomenological approach to visual arts. It will concentrate on the encounter of the French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty with the painting of Paul Cezanne.

The other part of the course will be organised around a selection of the following topics from the philosophy of literature: the 'ancient' quarrel between literature and philosophy; the 'good' of literature; theories of literary truth; the problem of interpretation; the problem of evaluation and the concept of a literary canon.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is based on two essays.

Core texts: Anne Sheppard, Aesthetics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art, Oxford University Press, 1987.
Monroe C. Beardsley, Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism,
2nd ed., Indianapolis: Hackett, 1988.
M. Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-sense. Evanston: North Western University
Press, 1971.

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History of Modern Philosophy

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI216	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Prof. Markus Wörner/Dr. Tom Duddy

Course description: The first part of the course (History of Modern Philosophy) attempts to analyse the changes of the concepts of Reason and Nature after the "Copernican revolution". These changes involve an interpretation of reality which is commonly regarded as crucially different from the incompatible with classical traditions. The changes are described in their relevance for theoretical and practical philosophy. The course will cover the following topics (i) The Copernican Revolution and the New Concept of Nature, (ii) The Topos of "Man's dominion over Nature" and the beginning of modern empiricism (F. Bacon), (iii) Descartes and the foundations of scientific knowledge, (iv) nature and the state (Hobbes).
The second part of the course will focus on the work of the influential English empiricist, John Locke, and will also discuss the critiques and developments of his thought - and the alternatives to it - which are to be found in the work of Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: R. Ariew & E. Watkins (eds.) Modern Philosophy - An Anthology of Primary Sources Indianapolis: Hackett 1998.

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Bioethics

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI240	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Dr. Richard Hull

Course description: This course (Bioethics) is concerned with contemporary issues in Bioethics. It will introduce a variety of normative ethical theories to provide a foundation for the critical analysis of a range of issues arising from the biological and medical sciences. These are likely to include abortion, euthanasia/physician assisted suicide, disability, genetic modification and resource allocation.

It is intended that students will gain knowledge of moral philosophy that equips them to evaluate some of the most pressing dilemmas facing biomedical practice.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J., Principles of Biomedical Ethics, OUP, 1994.
Singer, P. (Ed), A Companion to Ethics, Blackwell, 1993.

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History of Contemporary Philosophy (Contemporary European Philosophy)

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI203	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

Lecturer: Dr. Felix O Murchadha

Course description: This course (Contemporary European Philosophy) will aim to introduce students to some of the main themes and thinkers within the phenomenological tradition in 20th century European philosophy. Following a brief introduction to the thought of Edmund Husserl - the founder of Phenomenology - the course will concentrate on certain themes in the works of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Levinas. It will begin with a discussion of the method of phenomenology and then go on to some of its main themes, including subjectivity, perception, truth, the emotions, the body, time, history and the other.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on an essay. Written assignment - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core Texts: A list of readings will be handed out at the first lecture

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BA Final Year Requirements

Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology
Philosophy of Science
Readings in Metaphysics
Astronomy in the History of Ideas
History of Irish Thought
Topics in Applied Philosophy
Philosophy of Religion
Marxism & Existentialism
Extended Essay

Final Year

Entry requirements: A pass in Second Arts Philosophy or its equivalent in the case of visiting and exchange students. Students registered for the B.A. (International) must also have attained a satisfactory academic performance during their year abroad.

Dates of Semesters (Teaching)

 

Compulsory/Optional Courses:

Five (5) of the following courses are to be taken, plus the Extended Essay. At least two (2) modules must be taken in each semister.

Schedule of Courses:

 

 

Individual Course Units:

Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI312	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Dr. Tom Duddy

Course description:The first part of this course (Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology) will deal with issues in the philosophy of mind, and will be organised around a selection of the following topics: dualism, behaviorism, mind-brain identity, the 'mystery' of subjectivity, personal identity, eliminative materialism, functionalism, artificial intelligence.

The second part of the course will deal with issues in the theory of knowledge, and will be organised around a selection of the following topics: self-knowledge, perception, memory, conceptual frameworks, definitions of knowledge, scepticism, truth.

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: Assessment is by written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core tests: William Lyons, Matters of the Mind, Edinburgh University Press, 2001.
Jonathan Dancy, An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, Blackwell, Oxford 1985.
Louis P. Pojman, (ed.) The Theory of Knowledge - Classical & Contemporary Readings , Wadsworth, Belmont/Calif. 1993.

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Philosophy of Science

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI316	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Prof. Pascal O'Gorman

Course description: The aim of this course (Philosophy of Science) is to introduce the student to the principal developments in the philosophy of science in the 20th century. The course will start with the logical positivist analysis of science and range over subsequent developments. The course will concentrate on specific debate(s) such as the Popper/Kuhn or the realism/anti-realism debate. Primary sources will be detailed during the course.

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: D. Papineau (ed.) The Philosophy of Science Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996.
Laktos I and Musrave A., Criticism and Growth of Knowledge, Cambridge
University Press, 1974

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Readings in Metaphysics

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI331	1	2 Weekends	5

 

Lecturer: Dr. Felix O Murchadha

Course Description: This course (Readings in Metaphysics) will consist of a systematic reading of one of the masterpieces in Western Philosophy, Monadology , by the seventeenth century philosopher Leibniz. The course aims to provide students with the opportunity to engage in an intensive reading of this text and to familiarise themselves with a metaphysical theory which has been deeply influential on generations of philosophers. Special attention will be paid to Leibniz's accounts of substance, perception, God, mind, body and possible worlds. To facilitate an in-depth and intensive reading of this text the main part of the course will be taught over two weekends (Friday evening/Saturday) during the semester.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is seminar-based.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: It will be examined by essay and mid-term assignment.

Core Text: G.W. Leibniz: Monadology : an Edition for Students, ed. N. Rescher, Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, 1991.

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Astronomy in the History of Ideas

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI332	1	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Prof. Markus Wörner

Course description: This course (Astronomy in the History of Ideas) is intended to familiarize students with the history of astronomical and philosophical theories of cosmic structure. It will use a paradigmatic approach in which Presocratic, Platonic, Aristotelian, Ptolemaic, Copernican and modern systems are discussed in terms of their relevance for our understanding of the cosmos. Included in this course will be a day field trip to visit " The Leviathan of Parsonstown" in Birr Castle.

Prerequisities : None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based and will be accompanied by observational astronomy suited for Arts students.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation

Core text: Michael Zeilik, Astronomy, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution, Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press
1985.
Stephen Toulmin, Cosmopolis : The Hidden Agenda of Modernity, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press 1992.

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History of Irish Thought

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI241	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Dr. T. Duddy

Course description: This course (History of Irish Thought) covers the history of Irish thought from the seventh century to the twentieth century, focusing in some detail on the ideas of selected individual thinkers. The course begins with the thought of the Irish Augustine, an Irish monk from the seventh century. It continues with an examination of the work of the great ninth-century thinker, John Scottus Eriugena. The bulk of the course will discuss the thought of the modern thinkers, including Robert Boyle, John Toland, George Berkeley, Jonathan Swift, Francis Hutcheson and Edmund Burke.

Prerequisities : None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Reading: T. Duddy, A History of Irish Thought, Routledge, 2002

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Topics in Applied Philosophy: Disability, Poverty and Human Freedom.

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI310	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Dr. Richard Hull

Course description: This course (Topics in Applied Philosophy) is concerned with the application of the study of philosophy to issues of pressing public concern. It takes the experiences of disability and social deprivation as case studies and looks at how such experiences can best be theoretically articulated. Particular attention is given to rival theories of human freedom and their relevance to contemporary social and political debates. Attention is also focussed on how different theories of justice and morality imply very different social responses to the issues of disability and deprivation. Subjects covered include Rawl's theory of freedom, Nozick's libertarianism, the acts/omissions distinction and the doctrine of double effect. The course is designed to give students an analytical background that can be used to explore other contemporary social and political issues.

Prerequisites: None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core text: A selection of texts will be made available at the beginning of the course.

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Philosophy of Religion

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI327	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Dr. Felix O'Murchadha

Course description: This course (Philosophy of Religion) will aim to introduce students to the ongoing debate regarding the meaning and philosophical significance of religion. The course will begin with two contrasting accounts of religion from Nietzsche, Freud and Durkheim. Special emphasis will be placed on the themes of the sacred, faith and the religious - as opposed to philosophical - approach to God. The course will draw on certain key thinkers of the twentieth century such as Rudolph Otto, Martin Heidegger, Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, as well as those engaged in contemporary debates on these themes such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion. Certain religious phenomena such as prayer, ritual, iconography, church buildings, holy days and places will be examined.

Prerequisities : None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is based on written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core tests: A selection of readings will be supplied at the beginning of the course.

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Marxism & Existentialism

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI328	2	2 (Tutorials not included)	5

 

Lecturer: Mr. Joseph Mahon, M.A.

Course description: The aim of the first part of this course (Marxism and Existentialism) is (a) to introduce the student to the works of Marx and Engels, (b)to furnish a history of Marxist thought from the mid-19th century to the present day, (c) to acquaint the student with issues in contemporary Marxism.

The second part of the course discusses Twentieth Century Existentialism. Following a strict chronology, it provides an examination of selected works by Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Prerequisities : None

Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.

Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by written examination. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.

Core texts: G.A. Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1978.
A. Wood, Karl Marx. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1981.
J. Elster, Making Sense of Marx. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
1985.
S. de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. Harmondsworth: Penquin 1963.
Force of Circumstance, Harmondsworth: Penquin 1968.
A Very Easy Death, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1969.
The Ethics of Ambiguity. New York: Citadel 1991
A. Camus, A Happy Death, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1982.
The Outsider. Harmondsworth: Penguin 1983.
The Myth of Sisyphus. Harmondsworth: Penguin 1975.
Resistance, Rebellion and Death, Vintage: New York, 1960.
J.P. Sartre, Being and Nothingness. London: Methuen 1957.
War Diaries. London: Verso 1985.

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Extended Essay

 

Course	Semester	Contact hours/weekly	ECTS
PI399	1 and 2	Tutorials by appointment	5

 

The Extended Essay is intended to allow the student to demonstrate the full range of understanding of some the major themes of philosophy that have been studied for the previous 3 to 4 years.

 

 

    

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