Key facts

Type	Weekly Classes
Location	Reading
Address	London Road Campus Reading.
Dates	Thu 4 Oct to Thu 6 Dec 2012 Day: Thursday Time of meeting: 7.00-9.00pm Number of meetings: 10
Subject area(s)	Philosophy
CATS points	10
Fees	From £145.00
Application status	Course cancelled
Course code	R12P419PHW
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email pp@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

This course examines the key philosophical thinkers in Europe in the Nineteenth Century addressing the major schools of thought such as German Idealism, humanism and the emergence of existentialism.

Description

After Kant, a good proportion of philosophy began to focus on personal identity and one's relationship to the world. From the concept of self-consciousness to the exploration of history as the mode of truth, philosophy continued to contribute to our moral, political and religious attitudes. The Nineteenth Century saw the emergence of existentialism, Marxism and humanism all of which were conducted within a rich and fertile ideological soil. Such a soil would produce views as radically divergent as Schopenhauer's notion that man is the one animal that delights in the misery of its fellows whilst Feuerbach would argue that love is the essence of being, truth and reality. This course seeks to introduce students to the key philosophical concerns of the century's key thinkers.

Programme details

Week 1: An introduction to 19th Century Philosophy
Week 2: German Idealism: Fichte and Schelling
Week 3: German Idealism: Hegel
Week 4: Feuerbach
Week 5: Marx
Week 6: Kierkegaard
Week 7: Mill
Week 8: Schopenhauer
Week 9: Nietzsche
Week 10: Sociology of religion: Durkheim and Weber

Background reading:

Ed. Bubner, R. German Idealist Philosophy
Eds. Hong & Hong: The Essential Kierkegaard
Ed. Kaufman, W. Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre
Singer, P. Hegel: A Very Short Introduction
Wolff, J. An Introduction to Political Philosophy
Copleston, F. A History of Philsophy Vol. 7: 18th and 19th Century German Philosophy

Staff

Course aims

Course aim:
The aim of the course is provide students with a solid grounding in the central concerns of Nineteenth Century Philosophy.

Course objectives:
1. To provide students with an opportunity to get to grips with the century's philosophical concerns such as the concept of the self and its relationship to society.
2. To identify the political, moral and religious dilemmas of the age and their inter-relationships.
3. To enable students to apply these issues to the broader context of philosophy as a whole.

Assessment methods

The assessment will follow option A with four short assignments over the course; one of these may be a presentation.

Teaching methods

The sessions will be in a seminar format including both presentation of the key ideas and open discussion based around short extracts and articles. Students will have the opportunity, if they wish, to give a short presentation as a part of their portfolio assessment.

Teaching outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:
1. Be able to discuss some of the major concerns of the philosophers studied.
2. Develop their critical and analytical skills through the reading, the portfolio and the sessions.
3. Enable a keener sense of inter-communication through group discussion.

Fee options

Programme Fee

Home/EU fee: £145.00

Non-EU fee: £145.00

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