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Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.
This module critically analyses western philosophical thought about the mind, self and world, as it developed during the Early Modern Period (approx. 17th-18th century). The module will introduce students to influential philosophers of the period, such as Descartes, Locke, Hobbes, Hume and Kant. In each case, students will critically analyse what these philosophers thought about the mind, self, and world, and consider their responses to themes and questions like: what is consciousness, are there animal minds and how do we know anything; what makes us ‘us’, what is identity, and whether we have freewill; and whether the world exists, whether we can go beyond the world of experience and whether there are signs that the world was created. Upon completion, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the major developments in western philosophy during the early modern period, and be able to engage in fundamental philosophical debates and discussions by drawing from what early modern thinkers believed.
Sessions will be run in an interactive manner in order to facilitate open dialogue between students and lecturer, as well as among students themselves, and therefore there is not a strict separation between lecture and seminar.
You will be taught using LTU’s multimodal approach to teaching. Your learning will be divided into three stages:
Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live, in-person teaching. This may include watching a short, pre-recorded lecture (or other open educational resource), reading a paper or text chapter, finding resources to discuss with your peers in class, reading and commenting on a paper or preparing other material for use in class. Your Module Tutor will give you information to help you understand why you are completing an activity and how this will be built on during live, in-person teaching.
Live: All your live, in-person teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks and interact with staff and peers, as well as helping you to deepen your understanding, apply knowledge and surface any misunderstandings.
Post: Follow-up activities will include clear opportunities for you to check understanding and apply your learning to a new situation or context. These activities will also be a source of feedback for staff that will inform subsequent sessions.
Lectures/Seminars
Hours: 48
Intended Group Size: 30
Guided independent study
Hours: 252
Further details relating to assessment
Portfolio: Students will complete FOUR 500-word critical summaries in the first half of the year. Each will concisely outline and evaluate a key philosophical theory or argument covered in class. Students will be directed towards assigned reading for the completion of this task.
Essay: Students will complete a 2000-word essay on a question of their choice. Question options will be distributed mid-semester (with the possibility of negotiating a unique question, for those who wish to write on something not included in the list provided). Students will be expected to make an argument for the answer to the question chosen. They should draw on at least one text from the module and on at least one source from their own independent research.
001 Portfolio; 2,000 words; end of semester 1 50%
002 Essay; 2,000 words; end of semester 2 50%
200 Portfolio; 2,500 words; end of semester 1 100%
Module Coordinator - David Ellis
Level - 5
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5YL