This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Philosophy | www.essex.ac.uk/philosophy | E admit@essex.ac.uk | T +44 (0)1206 873666


Critical Reasoning and Logical Argument – This optional module focuses on the skills and methods required for university-level work in philosophy and related disciplines. Its primary aim is to assemble tools for the identification, representation and assessment of arguments for both logical soundness and rhetorical effectiveness.


Second and third year Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle – This module focuses on the work and thought of Aristotle, a philosopher whose influence on the Western philosophic and cultural tradition is rivalled only by that of his teacher, Plato. It will examine aspects of Aristotle’s ethics, philosophy of nature, metaphysics and philosophy of mind.


Ancient Philosophy: Plato – This module is devoted to an analysis of Plato's philosophy through an examination of his complex portrayal of Socrates. It is also intended to be an introduction to a way of approaching philosophy, characteristic of the ancient world, and differing from most contemporary approaches.


Contemporary Political Philosophy – We expect our states to be democratic and just, and to protect freedom and rights. However, all four of these values raise many problems which this module explores.


Ethics – This module introduces you to the principal strands of contemporary ethical theory and their implications, which are influential in current Anglo-American philosophy.


Joint Seminar in Philosophy and Law – This seminar considers contemporary issues which can be explored fruitfully from both a legal and a philosophical perspective, and looks at the moral anxieties raised by being a lawyer.


Philosophy and Literature – This module provides an introduction to discussions of the relations between philosophy and literature in the work of some major European thinkers, for instance Kant, Schlegel, Nietzsche, Bataille and Derrida.


Philosophy and Religion – This module explores basic questions about the existence of God and the meaning of


188 | Undergraduate Prospectus 2012


religion through the study of major religious and philosophical thinkers in the continental tradition.


Philosophy and Rights I – In the modern world the concept of rights is central to moral discussion. But what are rights? And how do we establish what rights we have?


Conceptual Foundations of Modernity – In the modern age, philosophers have battled over whether it is the power of human reason, or our direct sensory experience of the world, which tells us how the world really is. This module introduces you to the basic ‘vocabulary’ of early modern philosophy.


Nineteenth-Century Continental Philosophy – This module introduces some of the major issues and figures in nineteenth-century continental philosophy. Typically, the module will look at selected writings from Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Marx and others.


Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy – This module will introduce you to some of the primary themes and figures in twentieth-century continental philosophy, and will relate them to the earlier approaches from which they emerge.


Issues in Metaphysics – Currently, this module focuses on the work of one of the central figures on twentieth-century philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein. In his earlier work, Wittgenstein sought to resolve metaphysical problems by working out the idea of language as a system of representation. His later work attacked such an idea, and sought instead to emphasise the variety of roles that language plays in our lives.


Kant’s Revolution in Philosophy – Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason was a turning point in the history of philosophy; it permanently altered the philosophical map. This module introduces you to the revolution that Kant brought about and studies its lasting significance.


Hegel – Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is a revolutionary book in the history of Western thought. Its aim is to study the development of human self-conscious, in a manner that is both logically structured and thoroughly historical. Contemporary life, it can be argued, is still shaped by the often clashing claims of freedom,


authenticity, and reason, which Hegel explored, and which we will look at.


Heidegger – This module will investigate and discuss Heidegger’s so-called ‘existential analytic’ (his account of what it is to be a human being). It will focus on two texts: Being and Time and Basic Problems of Phenomenology.


Nietzsche – This module is devoted to a close study of some of Nietzsche’s most important works, for instace On the Genealogy of Morality and The Gay Science.


Aesthetics of the Visual Arts – This module normally focuses on topics related to the visual arts. Currently, the focus is on how theories of aesthetics to be found in the works of Kant, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Lyotard help us explore a variety of different visual artworks.


Philosophy and Film I – The aim of this module is to defend the hypothesis that cinema as art and as a technique, through its history, has raised and explored philosophical issues such as: What is reality? How can we have a representation of it? It will discuss different approaches to cinema, looking at various authors and at films such as The Matrix and Hitchcock’s Vertigo.


Philosophy and Film II – The aim of this module is to defend the hypothesis that some films have raised and explored philosophical issues such as: Can it be said that reality in itself is made of changes rather than of stable things? Is ‘Becoming’ more fundamental than ‘Being’? It will look at the philosophical issues that have arisen through Italian Neo-Realism, French New Wave and New Hollywood cinema, and directors such as Carpenter, Polanski and Tarentino.


Philosophy of Mind – This module explores one of the oldest philosophical topics: the nature of the mind. The issue is addressed largely in the context of contemporary philosophy, covering questions about the nature of the mind and how central features of the mind’s workings are to be explained.


Topics in the Philosophy of Religion – This module looks at the so-called ‘problem of evil’. Drawing on classic texts and contemporary debates, the objection to belief in a supremely wise, powerful


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232