Engaged Philosophy
Overview
- Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
- Convenor: Professor Robert Northcott
- Assessment: a 1000-word essay (40%) and 1500-word essay (60%)
Module description
Philosophy bears on many, perhaps all, topical social and other issues. In this compulsory module we examine some of these applications of philosophical theory. You will be able to bring your philosophical learning to bear in a rigorous way on a range of issues ‘out in the world’. The exact choice of topics will vary year by year, both as different teachers cover the module and as different topics become prominent in the news.
Indicative syllabus
- Can machines think?
- Can algorithms be trusted?
- Social prejudice
- Climate change and environmentalism
- Economic wealth
- Economic inequality
- War
- Migration
- Patriotism
- Free speech and cancel culture
- Trust in science
- Sport
- The value of art
- High culture versus pop culture
- Meaning of life
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- demonstrate detailed knowledge of philosophical theories relevant to a range of topics in public life
- demonstrate an awareness of different ideas, contexts and frameworks deployed by contributors to debates in applying philosophy to topics in public life
- analyse and compare different philosophical theories that are relevant to topics in public life
- select appropriate criteria to evaluate philosophical analyses of topics in public life.