Modules

New Term, New Modules

/ Pietro

Hello!

Time to get you updated on my second term here at Lancaster. Other than working on my dissertation, this Lent term I’ll be taking three new modules: Logic and Language, Aesthetics, and History of Twentieth Century Philosophy.

The Logic and Language module explores some key techniques in logic which allow you to assess arguments and distinguish valid from invalid ones. I’m looking forward to approaching the material from this course because I think that being able to evaluate arguments is a skill everyone should aim at developing. Logic is generally associated with philosophy and mathematics, but in fact any academic discipline is one way or another engaged in the practice of making good arguments and providing reasons for or against certain claims. Outside of academia, too, people make arguments all the time: public debates, including political debates, are just one notable example.

The second module I mentioned is Aesthetics, which addresses questions to do with beauty, art, and their value and significance. I’m looking forward to learn more about this stuff as well, because I’ve always been interested in the way people disagree about matters of “taste”. Yesterday night, for example, I went to the cinema here at Lancaster with a couple of friends: when one of them told me he found the film brilliant, I couldn’t believe it. I had found it extremely dull and poor. Was one of us right in our different assessment of the film, or was it all just a matter of subjective opinion? In the next few weeks, I’ll grapple with questions of this kind and try to get an understanding of what aesthetic judgements might amount to.

The last module I’ll be taking is History of Twentieth Century Philosophy. I’ve picked this one because I hope it will give me a better idea of the context in which some philosophers I’ve already studied produced their work, and also an understanding of the origins of contemporary philosophy.

As you see there’s quite a lot of work ahead of me, but, after all, that’s the very last bit of my degree, so I’d better get the most out of it!

Special Subjects

/ Pietro

Hi everyone!

For this week’s post, I’ve decided to tell you a bit about a distinctive selection of modules offered by the PPR Department at Lancaster: “special subjects”. Whereas a typical module will be centred around lectures delivered by an academic, special subjects run as seminar classes, or reading groups, with the tutor convening the group and moderating discussion. The tutor will generally be an expert in the field, and may be writing or researching on some of the topics covered in the module.

Sometimes, academics make use of special subjects to discuss what they’re working on at the moment with students. For example, of all the modules I’m taking this term, “Philosophy in Progress: Autobiography, Narrative, Self-Knowledge, and Self-Realisation” is a special subject intended as direct engagement with the tutor’s current academic work. Seminars are chaired by Sam Clark, an academic philosopher from the PPR Department, and the module’s aim is to read and engage with the draft of the book he is currently writing, and in doing so discuss the philosophical questions and issues it raises. At the end of the module, you are then asked to write and submit a 5000 word paper, where you focus on a specific topic covered in Sam’s book and critically engage with it.

I think special subjects are a great opportunity because you really get to engage with some contemporary developments in research on a given field, and you also get to discuss the topics with the person who may have written the very work you’re asked to read. This is all quite exciting as it gives interesting insights into what doing research at the professional level is all about. Moreover, special subjects’ peculiar structure allows you to explore a different learning format, where you’re supposed to play an active role by giving presentations and making contributions to the group’s discussions.

About Me

/ Amy Hobbs

My name is Amy and I’m a third year Philosophy (BA hons) student here at Lancaster. Hopefully these blog posts will allow you to get a feel of what life is like for typical student at the university. I will be keeping you up to date with how my course is progressing this year and with what I’ve generally been getting up to as a student.

It may only be week 4 of this term, but the work is already on a steady increase. That’s what comes with attending a ‘Top 10’ university I suppose! As I am a Single Honours student, my days are filled with philosophy modules. This term I am taking; Continental Philosophy, Darwinism and Philosophy, Philosophy and Popular Music, and Feminist Philosophy. Two of these are standard modules and two are special subjects; which I’ll explain later!

Right now in Continental Philosophy we are studying Nietzsche and his ideas about morality; where it came from and why what is ‘moral’ changes so much, the use of punishment, and the emergence of guilt and the conscience. His work is very different to the usual analytical-style readings that I have gotten used to over the past couple of years, and while it can be difficult to understand at times, I’m enjoying the challenge and it is quite a refreshing change. His work is going to be the subject of my essay at the end of this term.

As for Darwinism, we are currently understanding the theory of evolution and looking at some key thinkers surrounding the topic. For example; Dawkins and the ‘Selfish Gene’. Along with genetics we are questioning how important environmental factors are in evolution, as well as questioning whether the claim that the traits that we possess now ‘must be a product of evolution’, and so ‘must have a meaning for being there’. Right now we are just laying the groundwork for further philosophical discussion in the coming weeks- more of that to follow!

As for the special subjects, these are basically 2 hour seminars, once a week, and they are student-led. This means that, while there is a lecturer present to help and guide the discussion, it is basically down to us to start up conversation and encourage debate. Generally, the way this is done is by allocating each student (or group of students) one of the weekly readings of their choice. Then we have to create our own presentation and a handout of what we have read in which we; summarise and explain the reading, extract the key features of the arguments from the author, and identify questions that will lead to further discussion among the group. Don’t worry though, these are not assessed- but they really help with communication skills, and we can use the material that we come up with in our essays due next term, which is great!

Philosophy and Popular Music is the first of the  special subjects that I am taking, and by far the most different module to everything that I have studied during my time here. As of now, we are looking at the evaluation and aesthetic values of popular music with questions such as; ‘Is popular music standardised?’ ‘What implications does standardisation have on the value of popular music?’ In my second special subject; Feminist Philosophy, we are currently focusing on the work of Beauvoir in relation to the origins and solution to the oppression of women. For example; the idea that women are The Other, and the influence of biology in gender politics. Each of these have a 5000 word essay due for the first day back after Christmas.

Alongside all of this, I have been working on readings in preparation for my dissertation, but I have also managed to keep up with activities outside of studying. This past weekend I attended a 4 hour self-defence class with Just Play- a group that organises sporting events and taster sessions for anyone with (usually) any ability! It was a great session that I got to experience with one of my close friends, the session leaders were really supportive, and we both actually learned a lot! It was also Halloween this past weekend, so the community spirit within the university was at an all time high- definitely one of the most fun holidays to celebrate here in Lancaster!