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Introduction to the History of Philosophy. Introduction to Practical Ethics, Philosophy, Meaning, and Human Value I, Philosophy, Meaning, and Human Value II
History of Ancient Philosophy, Moral and Political Philosophy, History of Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of langauge. Plus one each from the following two groups: 1. History of Contemporary philosophy, Philosophy of Art and Literature, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, 2. Topics in Theoretical philosophy, Topics in Greek Philosophy, Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Topics in Practical Philosophy, Bioethics.
Entry requirements: Apart from the requirements laid down for entry into Faculty, no special requirements apply for entry.
|
2008/2009 | |
|
Semester 1: |
15th Sep 2008 – 13 th Dec, 2008 |
|
Semester 2: |
12th Jan, 2009 - 4 th April, 2009 |
All courses are compulsory for B.A. students
|
Code |
Course |
Semester |
ECTS |
Examination |
|
PI107 |
Introduction to the History of Philosophy |
1 |
5 |
1 Essay to be handed in at the end of Semester One |
|
PI108 |
Introduction to Practical Ethics |
2 |
5 |
2 hour written examination.
|
|
PI |
Philosophy, Meaning and
|
1 |
2.5 |
2 hour written examination.
|
|
PI |
Philosophy, Meaning and
|
2 |
2.5 |
1 Essay to be handed in at the end of Semester Two |
Introduction to the History of Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI107 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. Doyle
Course description: This course (Introduction to the History of Philosophy) offers a critical introduction to some of the major figures in the history of Western philosophy from the ancient Greeks to contemporary thought, emphasizing historical continuities and developments.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by essay at the end of first semester. Mid-term assignment may be required.
Core text: Plato,
Republic,
Penguin.
Descartes, René, Meditations on First Philosophy, Cambridge.
Hollingdale, R. J. (ed.), A Nietzsche Reader, Penguin.
(A detailed reading list will be distributed at the beginning of the course).
Introduction to Practical Ethics
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI108 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Mr. J. 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 by written examination at the end of the second semester. Written course work (essay) - if required is added to the evaluation
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.
Philosophy, Meaning and Human Value I
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI |
1 |
1 (Tutorials not included) |
2.5 |
Lecturers:
Different lecturers to be decided.
Course description: This course (Philosophy, Meaning and Human Value 1) aims to introduce students to a diversity of philosophical approaches to the problem of meaning and value. Issues covered will include some of the following: love, death, genetics and human life, human rights, gender, violence, science and the meaning of life. Students will by the end of this course have a broad knowledge of fundamental philosophical questions.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and examination
: Overall assessment is by written examination at the end of the second semester. Written course work (essay) - if required is added to the evaluation
Core texts: A selection of readings will be made available at the start of the course
Philosophy, Meaning and Human Value II
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI |
2 |
1 (Tutorials not included) |
2.5 |
Lecturer: Different lecturers to be decided
Course description: This course (Philosophy, Meaning and Human Value 11) aims to introduce students to a diversity of philosophical approaches to the problem of meaning and value. Issues covered will include some of the following: justice, poverty, love, death, genetics and human life, human rights, and the meaning of life.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and examination
Overall assessment is by essay at the end of first semester. Mid-term assignment may be required.
Core texts
A selection of readings will be made available at the start of the course.
BA Second Year Requirements
Entry requirements: A pass in First Arts Philosophy or its equivalent in the case of exchange and visiting students.
Dates of Semesters (Teaching)
|
2008/2009 | |
|
Semester 1: |
8 th Sep 2008 – 29 th Nov. 2008 |
|
Semester 2: |
12 th Jan, 2009 - 4 th April, 2009 |
|
Compulsory | ||||
|
Code |
Course |
Semester |
ECTS |
Examination |
|
PI210 |
Moral and Political Philosophy |
1 |
5 |
By essay |
|
PI213 |
Ancient Philosophy |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. |
|
PI216 |
History of Modern Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. |
|
PI206 |
Philosophy of Language |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
|
Optional | ||||
|
Code |
Course |
Semester |
ECTS |
Examination
|
|
PI203 |
History of Contemporary |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination |
|
Or |
| |||
|
PI217 |
Philosophy of Art and Literature |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination |
|
Or |
| |||
|
PI235 |
Philosophy of the Enlightenment |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination |
|
PI232 |
Topics in Theoretical Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
|
Or |
| |||
|
PI233 |
Topics in Continental Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
|
Or |
| |||
|
PI234 |
Topics in Practical Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
|
Or |
|
|
|
|
|
PI |
Topics in Greek Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
|
Or |
|
|
|
|
|
PI240 |
Bioethics |
2 |
5 |
By essay |
Moral & Political Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI210 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Mr. J. Mahon, MA.
Course description: This course on (Moral and Political Philosophy) has two parts. The first part is intended to familiarise students with the works of classical political philosophers, such as Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes Bentham and Mill, as well as with such contemporary counterparts as J. Rawls, R.Dworkin, A. Sen, G.A. Cohen, T. Nagel and I. Berlin. The unifying theme of this part of the course will be the good society, and this idea will be explored by analysis of such cognate concepts as freedom, justice and equality.
The second part of the course concentrates on what is technically called meta-ethics. Meta-ethics is a study of the way or ways in which moral language is like and unlike language used for other purposes. This part of the course may also be described as a protracted inquiry into the rationality of morals. It treats such topics as ’morality and knowledge’, the nature of ethical disagreement’, ’reason, emotion and morality’, ’the is/ought question’, and 'moral dilemmas'.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials. Written (essay) work - if required - is submitted before the commencement of written examinations.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core texts: C.B. MacPherson, The life and times of Liberal Democracy. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1977
R.E. Goodin and P. Pettit (eds.), A Companion to Contemporary Political
Philosophy, Blackwell: Oxford, 1993, 1995.
J.S. Mill, On Liberty, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1974.
T. Nagel, Equality and Partiality, Oxford U. Press: Oxford, 1991.
J. Steiner, European Democracies, 3 rd edition, Longman: London, 1995.
W.D. Hudson, Modern Moral Philosophy, MacMillan, London 1970.
D.Z. Philips & H.O. Mounce, Moral Practices, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1970.
G.J.Warnock, The Object of Morality, Methuen, London 1971.
J.J. Thomson & G.Dworkin (eds.), Ethics , Harper & Row, New York 1968.
P. Singer (ed.), A Companion to Ethics, Blackwell, Oxford, 1991.
Ancient Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI213 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer:
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 evaluation: Overall assessment is based on written examination. 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.
Philosophy of Art and Literature
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI217 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. Duddy/
Course description:
The first part of this course will focus on the philosophy of art.
The second 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.
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: Anne Sheppard, Aesthetics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art, Oxford University Press, 1987. Eileen John & D.M. Lopes (eds.) Philosophy of Literature: Contemporary and Classical Readings, Blackwell, 2004. !!!!!!!!!!
Philosophy of the Enlightenment
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI235 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. Doyle
Course description: This course (Philosophy of the Enlightenment) shall examine the specifically philosophical principles informing the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. In particular, the course shall trace the manner in which the Enlightenment appeal to the autonomy of reason as the source of objective truth initiates the transformation of Western culture from a medieval to a modern civilization. Attention shall also be given to criticism of the Enlightenment project spanning from the Romantics of the eighteenth century to the Frankfurt School and Pragmatism in the twentieth century.
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: E. Cassirer, The Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Princeton, 1951. James Schmidt (ed.), Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth-Century Questions, University of California Press, 1996. (A detailed list will be distributed at the beginning of the course).
History of Contemporary Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI203 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. F. Ó Murchadha
Course description: This course (Contemporary European Philosophy) will familiarize students with some of the major themes of contemporary continental philosophy through a close reading of excerpts from book-length works and short essays written by some of the most influential philosophers in that tradition. These themes include: embodiment, horizon, life-world, the turn to language, hermeneutics, deconstruction and the other.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: This 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: A list of readings will be handed out at the start of the course
Philosophy of Language
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI206 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. N. Tosh
Course Description: This course (Philosophy of Language) addresses the question: “Why is language important to philosophy?” By the end of the course the student should have an in depth knowledge of the principal developments in contemporary British - American philosophy of language. During the course one of the following will be discussed in some detail: Ayer; the Vienna Circle; Frege; Quine; Wittgenstein. Primary sources will be specified during the course. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials. Written (essay) work - if required - is submitted before the commencement of written examinations.
Methods of assessment and examination: Overall assessment is by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core Text: A.W. Moore (ed.), Meaning and Reference. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993. !!!!!
History of Modern Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI216 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. Doyle /Dr. T. Duddy
Course description:
The first part of this course will focus on the beginnings of modernism in the work of Descartes.
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 examination: 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. !!!!!!!!
Topics of Theoretical Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI232 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Mr. P. Johnson
Course description: This seminar on (Topics in Theoretical Philosophy) aims to clarify the role and construction of imagination in modern thought (1600-1900) with special emphasis on the work of Immanuel Kant. The central content of this course will be an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s theory of imagination as constitutive, or world-forming, based on readings from The Critique of Pure Reason and The Critique of Judgment. Kant’s distinction between the ’reproductive’ imagination and the ’productive imagination’ will be analysed.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: This course will be examined by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core Texts: A Reader including extracts from Descartes’ Meditations, Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, Kant’s Critique of Judgment, and other material (Mary Warnock’s Imagination, Richard Kearney’s Poetics of Imagining) will be provided. Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, revised translation based on Meiklejohn, ed. Vasilis Politis, Everyman/Orion Publishing, (London: 2002), 8th edition, will serve as the primary text.
Topics in Continental Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI233 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. F. OMurchadha
Course description:
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: This course will be examined by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core texts:
Topics in Practical Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI234 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Ms. J. Buckley,MA
Course description: This seminar (Topics in Practical Philosophy) will introduce students to contemporary theories of social justice with particular focus on its pragmatist dimension. Students will examine the concept of justice as a social ideal, explore the relationship between the individual and society and consider the possibility of social transformation. In fashioning an account of social justice this seminar will draw predominantly on Pragmatist sources but will also consider the critiques offered by postmodern, feminist and postcolonial theorists. Selected topics to be discussed include social epistemology, justice, equality, democracy, citizenship and political engagement. This course will conclude with a treatment of the relationship.
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: This course will be examined by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core texts: Dewey, John: The Public and its Problems (Later Works) in Jo Ann Boydston The Collected Works of John Dewey. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.
Green, Judith: Pragmatism and Social Hope: Deepening Democracy in Global Contexts. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004
Young, Iris M: Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press, 1990
__________, Inclusion and Democracy: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Bioethics
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI240 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. R. Hull
Course description: This seminar (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 by essay. 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.
Topics in Greek Philosophy
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI2 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer:
Course description:
Prerequisites: None
Teaching and learning methods: The course is lecture-based, supplemented by tutorials.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: Overall assessment is by essay. Written course work (essay) - if required - is added to the evaluation.
Core texts:
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.
|
2007/2008 | |
|
Semester 1: |
8 th Sept, 2008 – 29 th Nov, 2008 |
|
Semester 2: |
12 th Jan, 2009 - 4 th April, 2009 |
Five (5) of the following courses are to be taken, plus the Extended Essay. At least two (2) modules must be taken in each semester.
|
| ||||
|
Code |
Course |
Semester |
ECTS |
Examination |
|
PI316 |
Philosophy of Science |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
PI3 |
Moral Theory |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
PI241 |
History of Irish Thought |
1 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
PI312 |
Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology |
2 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
PI310 |
Topics in Applied Philosophy |
2 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
OR |
|
|
|
|
|
PI334 |
History of European Idealism |
2 |
|
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
PI328 |
Marxism and Existentialism |
2 |
5 |
2 hour written examination. Essay work may be required. |
|
OR |
| |||
|
PI3 |
French Phenomenology |
2 |
5 |
Presentation and Final Essay |
|
PI399 |
Extended Essay |
1 & 2 |
5 |
Extended Essay |
History of Irish Thought
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI241 |
1 |
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.
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.
Philosophy of Science
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI316 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. N. Tosh
Course description:
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: A selection of readings will be supplied at the beginning of the course.
Moral Theory
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI3 |
1 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. H. Schmidt Felzmann
Course description: This course (Moral Theory) will introduce students to the principal positions in contemporary moral theory including consequentialism, deontology and virtue theory. It will also explore the question of the role of feeling in moral choice. The course will deal with the main contemporary moral theorist within the context of moral theory going back to 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 text: Mark Timmons (2002) Moral Theory: An Introduction, Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield,
Lecturer: Dr. R. 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 focused 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.
Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI312 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. 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, 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.
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: 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.
Marxism & Existentialism
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI328 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Mr. J. 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.
Prerequisites: 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.
History of European Idealism
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI334 |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. T. Doyle
Course description: This course (History of European Idealism) shall examine the historical legacy of Kant’s transcendental idealism in the writings of Fichte, Hegel and Schopenhauer. Taking the general theme of the relationship between self and world as our guide, the course shall examine Fichte’s self-limiting ego, Hegel’s absolute idealism and Schopenhauer’s appeal to the Will.
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:
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb,
The Science of Knowledge, Cambridge, 1997, translated by Peter Heath and John Lachs. Hegel, G. W. F.,
Phenomenology of Spirit, (Oxford, 1977), translated by A. V. Miller. Kant, Immanuel,
Critique of Pure Reason, (MacMillan, 1929), translated by Norman Kemp Smith. Schopenhauer, Arthur,
The World as Will and Representation, Volume I, (Dover, 1966), translated by E. F. J. Payne. (A detailed list of readings will be distributed at the beginning of the course.)
|
Course |
Semester |
Contact hours/weekly |
ECTS |
|
PI |
2 |
2 (Tutorials not included) |
5 |
Lecturer: Dr. F. O Murchadha
Course description
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:
|
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.
