This unit is an introduction to central issues in metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics. It opens with general questions about reality, God, personal identity and free will. The middle section of the unit will consider questions about values, goodness and responsibility. The final part is concerned with the question "what is art", the nature of aesthetic judgment and the role of art in our lives.

An introduction to modern logic: the investigation of the laws of truth. One essential aspect of good reasoning or argumentation is that it is valid: it cannot lead from true premises to a false conclusion. In this unit we learn how to identify and construct valid arguments, using techniques such as truth tables, models and truth trees. Apart from being a great aid to clear thinking about any subject, knowledge of logic is essential for understanding many areas not only of contemporary philosophy, but also linguistics, mathematics and computing.

This unit is an introduction to central issues in political philosophy, theories of knowledge and philosophical conceptions of the self. The first part will consider the state, freedom and political obligation. The second part will examine some of the major theories of knowledge in the modern philosophical tradition. The final section will look at conceptions of the self as a knowing and acting subject.

This unit covers three topics in epistemology: what knowledge is, how it can be obtained, and what to do with it. The first component involves a study of the nature of knowledge, and the various attempts to define it. The second is concerned with principles of reason and investigation, and how to assess whether they are good sources of knowledge. The final component is to do with the theory of decision: what methods should be used to apply knowledge in the choice of action.

This unit examines the thought of the central French philosophers of the eighteenth century from Voltaire to Rousseau, including the work of Diderot, d'Alembert and the encyclopedists. It will trace the impact of, as well as reactions to, the new science and Locke's theory of ideas, and it will examine changing attitudes to religion and society.

Classical logic is what you study in introductory units such as PHIL1012. This unit covers major extensions of and alternatives to classical logic, such as temporal, modal, intuitionist, relevance, and many-valued logics. As well as looking at the internal workings of these logics, we examine some of their applications, and the philosophical issues surrounding them.

This unit will examine three problems that are part of the legacy of Empiricism: (i) the issues of induction, causation and causal explanation in science; (ii) the arguments from Berkeley and Hume concerning the external world; and (iii) the case of post-Humean ethical theory. Throughout we will be looking to the modern manifestations of these problems and the ways they might be rectified. We also look to emphasise the importance of these issues for the development of psychology of perception.

The nature of duty and the good: how we ought to live and what is valuable in life. A selective survey of Western normative ethical theory, covering philosophers such as Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Mill.

An examination of the major philosophical themes to be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle, with close attention to a few central works. The course emphasises understanding the ways these philosophers think rather than learning a body of doctrine.

A critical examination of the first developments in philosophy among the early Greeks, emphasising two emerging traditions of philosophy, in Ionia and the Italian peninsula respectively. The main emphases are on the origin of thought about being and the development of different philosophical methods through the activities of criticism and response prevalent among the Presocratics. These activities are particularly well exhibited in the argumentative challenges of Parmenides and Zeno, and the responses made by the fifth-century B.C. thinkers.

We examine the major ways of proving things in logic: tableaux (trees), axiomatic proofs, natural deduction and sequent calculus. We learn to construct proofs of each of these kinds and then establish fundamental adequacy results (e.g. soundness and completeness) for each kind of proof system.

This unit draws on contemporary moral philosophy to shed light on some of the most pressing practical, ethical questions of our time, including euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, censorship, animal rights, genetic testing and cloning and environmental ethics. By the end of the unit, students should have a good understanding of these practical ethical issues; and, more crucially, be equipped with the conceptual resources to think through new ethical questions and dilemmas as they arise in their personal and professional lives.

Why is art important to us? What is an aesthetic response to something? What is the relation between art and aesthetics? Is there such a thing as objective interpretation of an artwork? Or is it all a matter of taste? Should we believe in 'the death of the author'? What is the relation between art and representation, expression and emotion? We shall discuss these and other questions (e. g. modernity, metaphor) from the perspective of an historical approach to the philosophical study of aesthetics and art.

This unit focuses on contemporary problems in philosophy of mathematics. Perhaps the most fundamental of these problems is that of determining the subject matter of mathematics. Is mathematical knowledge just logical knowledge, abstract knowledge of the empirical world, or something else? And how do we come by mathematical knowledge? Other topics include, the significance of mathematical results about the limits of mathematics (such as Godel's incompleteness theorems), the nature of infinity, and the relationship between pure mathematics and empirical science.

Throughout our lives, in making decisions large and small, we gamble in the face of uncertainty. Because we are always unsure what the future holds, we base our choices on estimates of probability. But what is probability, how do we know about it, and how should we use that knowledge in making rational choices? This unit provides an introduction to the foundations and philosophical puzzles of probability and rational decision theory.

This unit covers central issues in contemporary philosophy of language, such as the relationship between language and the world, the nature of meaning and truth, problems involved in interpreting and understanding the speech of others, the role of context in determining meaning, and the nature of metaphor.

This is a unit in metaphysics: the discipline that tells us about the nature of the world. The unit carries on from the Reality component of first year. We engage with questions like: What is time? What is space? What makes something a person? How much change can I undergo and still be me? Are objects four-dimensional space-time worms? Do the past or future exist, and could we travel to them? Are there numbers?

We go beyond the question of which actions are morally right to consider the following: How should we evaluate motives and emotions? Is anyone actually virtuous, or are we all weak-willed, self-deceived confabulators? Are any actions or persons evil? When should we feel guilty or ashamed? Should forgiveness be unconditional? Is morality the product of Darwinian natural selection, or of culture and learning? Is there any objective truth in morality, or are moral claims merely subjective or culturally relative?

How is it possible that thoughts materialise in actions? How can we explain that material processes in the brain result in conscious mental states? These questions have been discussed since Descartes and this unit of study examines how the mind-body problem came into existence. We will also look at Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche and Kant and the answers they developed to deal with this problem. This unit provides students with an interest in contemporary philosophy of mind with an ideal grounding.

A unit in normative political philosophy. The unit will examine ideas of democracy, as well as historical foundations of these ideas, and it will do so in order to address key issues in contemporary democratic theory, such as the tension between republican and liberal ideas, the relationship between justice and democracy, the challenges of social and cultural pluralism, the limits of democratic inclusion, and, importantly, the nature of political legitimacy and the challenge of a suitably inclusive justification of political principles.

This unit offers a critical introduction to the major schools of thought in contemporary political philosophy organised around the theme of inclusion and exclusion. The inclusive ambitions of liberal political theory will be confronted with objections from thinkers motivated by concern with various aspects of social and political exclusion based on categories such as gender, cultural difference, and statelessness.

This unit presents a variety of philosophical issues associated with the study and management of the natural environment. We will look at questions such as: what does it mean to live in harmony with the environment? what is sustainability? why should we preserve biodiversity? what is the best way to achieve conservation goals? what are ecological models and how do they work? and what is the proper relationship between environmental science and the values found in environmental policy and management?

An introduction to critical thinking and analysis of argument. By examining arguments drawn from diverse sources, including journalism, advertising, science, medicine, history, economics and politics, we will learn how to distinguish good from bad arguments, and how to construct rationally persuasive arguments of our own. Along the way we will grapple with scepticism, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. The reasoning skills imparted by this unit make it invaluable not only for philosophy students but for every student at the University.

An introduction to modern theories of the nature of mind, and some important contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind. Topics will include the problem of mental representation (how can minds think about the world?), the relationship of minds to brains, and the problem of consciousness.

This unit will analyse a range of theoretical and practical issues in the philosophy of law, both historical and contemporary. Issues addressed may include: legal obligation; punishment; legal responsibility; legal exclusion, including exclusion of race, gender, and class; citizenship; rule of law; legal pluralism; the nature of rights and duties; autonomy; and the relations between law and morality.

This unit addresses the 'ancient quarrel' between philosophy and literature. We will examine arguments about the importance of imagination and sympathy to moral judgement by putting various philosophical and literary texts in dialogue with each other.

We all want to be happy and to live a worthwhile life. But what is happiness? Why should we want it? And how do we get it? These are among the most fundamental questions of philosophy. We will evaluate the answers of major thinkers from ancient and modern and eastern and western traditions; and consider the implications of current psychological research into the causes of happiness for the question of how to live well, as individuals and as a society.

This unit addresses philosophical issues concerning how we should live our lives. It surveys theories of which goals are good and which actions are right. Students will gain an overview of philosophical approaches to questions like: must we act for the greater good, or is it ok to show a special concern for our friends? Can we be justified in harming some people to help others? Can small benefits to many people justify imposing a great loss on a few? Is there an objective fact about what is morally right, or is morality subjective or relative?

This unit will use the screening and criticism of carefully chosen classical and contemporary films to raise important philosophical questions and to contribute to our response to them. Each film screening will be paired with a key philosophical question that is explored in the film and further investigated in class: problems of freedom, human action, democracy, crime, love, otherness, marriage, conversation, selfhood, and being human. The class will also explore some central questions in the philosophy of film.

In this unit we will study the way in which the appeal to logical analysis in the context of Frege's new quantificational logic gave rise to Analytic Philosophy in the early 20th century. A central theme will be to explore the way in which questions of metaphysics and epistemology were transformed into questions about the logical form of language. We shall also explore the extent to which early analytic philosophy is a reaction against Kant and post-Kantian idealism by focusing on the writings of Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein.

This course addresses philosophical issues concerning sex. From the perspective of metaphysics, we will ask what sexual differences and relations are. From the perspective of moral and political philosophy, we will ask which sexual relationships and identities are ethically justifiable. Sample questions include: What is it to have a sexual identity? Is sexual difference innate or socially constructed? Is intoxicated sexual consent valid? Is there anything wrong with being a sex object? Is pornography problematic? Is bestiality ever ok?

This unit examines ethical questions concerning social justice. It surveys influential theories of which institutions and social relationships are necessary for a just society. The unit provides students with an overview of views of freedom and equality. Finally, it critically reviews attempts to reconcile these apparently conflicting goals, e.g. as they pertain to questions like: Is taxation theft? Is private education inegalitarian? Are there moral limits to markets? Should we be free to engage in speech that undermines others' statuses?

What is the boundary between reality and illusion? Can we be certain that we do not just project our own feelings and thoughts onto reality? Can we know that we are not dreaming? This unit will address these questions by analysing sceptical arguments and theories of knowledge from antiquity to modernity. The unit is designed to introduce students to epistemological topics in the historical context, thereby offering the basis for further studies in contemporary epistemology, metaphysics and philosophy of mind.

We will explore philosophical questions about the nature of science, such as: When does evidence count for or against a scientific theory? What does it take for a theory to be explanatory? Should we believe that our best scientific theories are true (or approximately true), or only that they are predictively successful? What does it take for a truth to count as a law of nature?

This course examines John Locke's views on the correct method of the acquisition of knowledge of nature with a special focus on his Essay concerning Human Understanding. Topics include experimental philosophy, natural history, hypotheses and analogy, matter theory, generation and species, and the theory of qualities.

Are time and space substances, or is there nothing more to them than the relations between objects or events? How is time different from space? Does time have a direction? If it does, what gives it its direction? If it doesn't, why does it seem to us that it does? Does space have a direction? This unit investigates the nature of time and space and objects (including persons) within space and time.

This course examines a major movement in 19th and 20th century European philosophy, and focuses on key questions and figures from the movement. Topics to be considered include: the possibility of morality after the death of God, meaning in human life, the self, freedom, finitude and historicity.

Voting is often taken to be the cornerstone of a democratic society. We will look at a variety of voting systems and consider various philosophical questions about these systems and their proper role in democratic governance. We will consider famous theoretical results such as Arrow's Theorem and the Condorcet Jury Theorem and investigate whether these results have any implications for the scope and limits of democratic governance. We will also look at recent work on alternative approaches to democratic decision making.

This unit introduces students to debates in which contemporary philosophers appeal to biology. Claims about human nature, race, normality, innateness, and evolutionary design feature in arguments in epistemology, philosophy of mind and language, and ethics. Students will learn how to evaluate such efforts to base philosophical theories on biology.

This unit considers key themes in modern and contemporary political thought. It uses primary texts to address topics such as sovereignty, democracy, fascism, liberalism, human rights, politics and religion, violence, and political identity. Authors may include Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, J.S. Mill, Tocqueville, Rawls, Arendt, Schmitt, and Foucault.

This unit examines theories of perception from Descartes to Reid. It comprises four main themes. First, early modern accounts of sense perception are discussed in tandem with developments in the science of optics and the understanding of visual perception. Second, perception as a faculty of the understanding, that is, mental perception, is studied in the writings of Locke and Condillac. Third, sense perception and mental perception are treated together in a detailed assessment of the Molyneux Problem from Leibniz and Berkeley to Diderot. And fourthly, the course examines the notions of a moral sense and an aesthetic sense in the writings of Hutcheson.

In this unit we will explore the informational-turn in philosophy. We will investigate the nature of information itself, as well as information-based approaches to central philosophical issues across epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and semantics. We will also examine the role played by information in the sciences, as well as the socio-ethical impact of information-based technologies including web-based communication platforms, the impact of remote/autonomous systems such as drones and facial recognition on freedom and agency, data-as-labour vs data-as-capital, and the weaponisation of information itself.

This unit will explore some of the fascinating philosophical issues arising from the study of formal logic. These include theory choice in logic, the relationships between various logics, the use of non-classical logics in escaping paradox, and whether we need to be pluralist about logic.

This unit addresses central themes from the history and philosophy of human rights. Topics may include justifications for human rights, dangers and threats to human rights, the meaning and role of dignity, tensions between human rights and state sovereignty, as well as wider themes in political thought such as equality, liberty, and power. Thinkers may include Burke, Wollstonecraft, Paine, Marx, Arendt, Levi, Rawls, and Nussbaum.

This unit will explore the distinctive philosophical outlook known as "Pragmatism" which many see as a third way beyond the analytic-continental divide. After a brief survey of classical American Pragmatism (C.S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey) we will consider in depth neo-pragmatism (Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam), linguistic pragmatism (Robert Brandom, Huw Price), and methodological pragmatism (David Macarthur). Key issues will include realism, empiricism, naturalism, scientism, metaphysical quietism, the fact/value distinction, and the agent point of view in philosophy.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2617, with common lectures, but advanced readings and separate assessment. Students will apply advanced methods of contemporary moral philosophy to the understanding of practical ethics. They will evaluate approaches to pressing questions concerning euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, censorship, animal rights, genetic testing and cloning and the environment. Students will learn how to apply their understanding of practical ethical issues to extant ethical dilemmas, and, more crucially, new ones that arise in their personal and professional lives.

This course will cover the period from the death of Aristotle up to the beginnings of Christian philosophy. It is designed to give a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of the Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics. Approximately half the course will be devoted to questions in Hellenistic metaphysics, epistemology and logic. The other half of the course will be devoted to Hellenistic ethics and psychology.

This is an advanced Philosophy of Mind course which has common lectures with PHIL2643 but different assessments and tutorials. It will cover the latest research on metaphysics of mind, and the theory of the content of mental states - how it is that mental stages get to be 'about' the world. It deals with similar issues as PHIL2643 but at a more advanced level, with reading from contemporary journal articles and research-based Essays as the principal assessment.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2647, with common lectures but separate tutorials and assessments. Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to the understanding of happiness. Students will analyse influential theories of what happiness is, why we should want it and how we get it. They will evaluate the implications of psychological research into happiness's causes. Students will learn to apply their understanding of happiness to the question of how to live well, as individuals and as a society.

Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to the understanding of the passions. Students will analyse the most influential theories, historical and contemporary, about how passions function in society. They will evaluate how passions have reflected and interacted with the predominant culture since the early-modern era. Students will learn how to apply their understanding of the passions to the social and political challenges of today.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2655, with separate tutorials and assessment. Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to issues concerning how we should live our lives. This unit surveys theories of which goals are good and which actions are right. Must we act for the greater good, or is it ok to show a special concern for our friends? Can we be justified in harming some people to help others? Can small benefits to many people justify imposing a great loss on a few? Is there an objective fact about what is morally right, or is morality subjective or relative?

This unit is an advanced version of PHIL2622. It explores the relationship between space, time and modality. It asks the questions: What is time? What is space? How do objects exist through time? Could our world have been other than it is? What sorts of things are persons? Is it possible to travel backwards in time? Is our world ultimately composed of fundamental simple objects? The course provides a general background in analytic metaphysics.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2663, with common lectures but separate tutorials and assessments. Students will apply advanced ethical methods to the understanding of social justice. Students will analyse influential theories of a just society's institutions and social relationships. They will evaluate views of freedom and equality. Students will learn to apply their understanding of justice to reconciling these goals, e.g. when answering: Is taxation theft? Is private education inegalitarian? Are there moral limits to markets?

This is an advanced course in metaphysics building on concepts introduced in PHIL2622 Reality, Time and Possibility: Metaphysics and PHIL2672 Time and Space. In it, we consider whether some things are more fundamental than others, and, if so, what fundamentality consists in. Must there be some most fundamental things, or could there be chains of dependence all the way down?

This unit examines the much-disputed distinction between the normal and the pathological, drawing on work from both continental and analytic traditions, from Georges Canguilhem and Michel Foucault to Ruth Millikan and Karen Neander. Related topics include: are illness or disability intrinsically harmful? What is the relationship between illness and personal identity? Is health more than the absence of disease? Note: Students should be aware that this is not a unit in clinical bioethics.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2681, with common lectures, but separate tutorials and assessment. In this unit we will explore the idea that a work of art is best thought of on the model of intentional action. By considering examples of painting, sculpture, literature, conceptual art, film and photography we will consider questions of artifactuality, artistic intentionality, interpretation, and objecthood. A guiding theme will be the challenge to a demanding conception of art posed by various forms of skepticism about art including relativism, physicalism, and a modern scientific-minded cynicism about non-scientific understanding.

This unit is designed for third year students to undertake a project that allows them to work with one of the University's industry and community partners. Students will work in teams on a real-world problem provided by the partner. This experience will allow students to apply their academic skills and disciplinary knowledge to a real-world issue in an authentic and meaningful way.

Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.

This unit will examine key texts, thinkers and movements in the history of early modern philosophy. Topics to be considered may include conceptions of personal identity, the body, the passions, perception, knowledge and the natural world. The writings of philosophers stressing the importance of reason (e.g., Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) and experience (e.g., Locke, Berkeley, Hume) may be considered with the aim of rethinking standard conceptual divisions that fail to acknowledge important continuities between these thinkers.

This unit will examine key questions, texts, thinkers and movements in the history of German philosophy. Topics to be considered may include Kant and post-Kantian philosophy; Enlightenment and Romanticism; theories of life and the philosophy of nature in 18th-20th century German thought; rationalism and empiricism in German philosophy; and the influence of German philosophers and philosophy on other traditions. Students will engage with the latest research on these topics.

Philosophy of art is concerned with the nature of art, its relation to intention and interpretation, and what role notions such as representation, expression and value play in elucidating its importance and interest. In this unit we shall engage with the most recent scholarship in the field to explore these issues and the key question of the relationship between aesthetics and art.

Moral Psychology is the branch of philosophy that addresses the moral status of our motives, intentions, emotions, and character traits, as well as the nature of the psychological processes that lie behind moral judgment and morally good or bad actions. In this unit we will engage with recent philosophical work on topics in this field, such as questions concerning forgiveness, virtue and vice, evil, and moral responsibility.

This unit will deepen understanding of core issues in social and political philosophy. Possible topics include social and political justice, the state, freedom, the nature of social and political norms and obligations, rights and human rights, inequality, social and political violence, selfhood in social and political contexts, democratic theory, and social and political justice.

Ethics is the study of how we should live. In this unit, students examine key questions about the nature and content of morality, such as the function of moral judgment and the nature of right action.

The philosophy of mind and metaphysics examines core issues in our understanding of the mind and the nature of reality. Topics include the ontology of mind, the nature of concepts and mental representations, and the problem of mental content. Metaphysics is concerned with these questions as well as other questions about reality, including the nature of necessity, causation, and how to reconcile recent scientific discoveries with our common-sensical conception of the world. The unit will provide background to these areas, and engage with contemporary research on that foundation.

The philosophy of science is concerned with the nature and limits of scientific knowledge. How can we explain the ability of the sciences to consistently produce powerful and reliable knowledge? Are there any fundamental differences between the physical, biological and social sciences? Philosophers increasingly recognise that different philosophical issues arise in different sciences, and in any particular year the course will focus on issues raised by one or more individual sciences such as quantum physics, evolutionary biology, genetics, ecology, mathematics, neuroscience, or economics.

Formal Philosophy is concerned with the development and use of tools from logic, probability theory, game theory and elsewhere in connection with core philosophical problems concerning language, truth, knowledge and action. In this unit students will engage with cutting-edge developments in contemporary formal philosophy.

Key questions in epistemology, the study of knowledge and rational belief, and the philosophy of language include: What is it for a body of evidence to support a hypothesis to some degree? How should we adjust our beliefs in light of evidence about others' views? How do words manage to refer to objects and properties in the word, and not just to our own ideas and concepts? This course will engage with cutting-edge research in these areas.

This unit, taught by leading international visiting philosophers, will train students in latest philosophical methods, focusing on a cutting-edge debate in a particular field of philosophical research. Topics will vary from year to year, including history of philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and logic, philosophy of language, ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. Students should contact the Philosophy Honours Coordinator for further details.

This unit, taught by leading international visiting philosophers, will train students in latest philosophical methods, focusing on a cutting-edge debate in a particular field of philosophical research. Topics will vary from year to year, including history of philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and logic, philosophy of language, ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. Students should contact the Philosophy Honours Coordinator for further details.

In this unit you begin a substantial, independent research project in Philosophy. Regular meetings with a supervisor approved by the Philosophy Honours Coordinator will guide your progress. You will develop a plan for researching and writing the thesis, submit an ethics application if appropriate, familiarize yourself with disciplinary conventions and standards, engage with relevant literature, theories and methodologies, and submit drafts at agreed times.

In this unit you complete and submit your substantial, independent research project in Philosophy. Regular meetings with a supervisor approved by the Philosophy Honours Coordinator will guide your progress. You will continue to submit drafts at agreed times, and develop your expertise in relevant research methods and analytical skills as well as in the subject matter of your specialist topic.