BA Philosophy

PHL1002A: Knowledge and Reality 1

This module introduces you to classical epistemological and metaphysical questions such as 'how do we know what we know?' and 'what is there?'. It presents and analyses some classical questions of the nature of reality and discusses subjects such as innate knowledge, scepticism, empiricism and common sense.

You will consider the early modern debate between rationalists and empiricists, as well as older and newer treatments of such related issues as Decartes' cogito, substance, idealism and the value of metaphysics. You will gain an understanding of technical terminology such as epistemology and metaphysics and be able to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of these views.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to classical epistemological and metaphysical questions. It presents and analyzes some classical answers to the question of how we know what we know, and about the nature of reality. The module discusses the early modern debate between rationalists and empiricists, as well as older and newer treatments of such related issues as innate knowledge, substance, scepticism and the value of metaphysics

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PHL1002B: Knowledge and Reality 2

The aim of this module is to introduce you to core topics in western philosophy. The course will revolve around a number of questions: What is the mind? What is the self? Does God exist? Why is there evil? Are we free? What should we do? How should we live? In considering these questions, you will become acquainted with some of the main historical movements in western philosophy, as well as with basic concepts and theories in core areas of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and moral philosophy. No special knowledge is required, but it would be helpful to have attended the first part of this module, Knowledge and Reality 1.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to core topics in western philosophy. The course will revolve around a number of questions: What is the mind? What is the self? Does God exist? Why is there evil? Are we free? What should we do? How should we live? In considering these questions, you will become acquainted with some of the main historical movements in western philosophy, as well as with basic concepts and theories in core areas of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and moral philosophy.

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PHL1005A: Evidence and Argument 1

Philosophers try to think rationally about the most general and abstract questions; for this reason, they spend a lot of time constructing and criticising arguments. This module introduces you to the basic principles of argumentative reasoning, including basic propositional and predicate logic; you will investigate what makes a good or a bad argument, and how to distinguish one from the other. This is an essential skill not only in science and philosophy, but also in politics and everyday life.

Consisting of a mixture of theory and practical exercises, this module will teach you the tools and skills necessary for analysing, evaluating and constructing arguments. You will learn to analyse texts taken from philosophy and the social sciences, assess the validity of arguments, identify the most common forms of pseudo-reasoning and evaluate the use of evidence in empirical science.

This module is suitable for all students in philosophy and other social science disciplines. No prior knowledge is required.

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PHL1006: Introduction to Philosophical Analysis

On this module, you will be introduced to various conceptions of philosophy that have existed over time, and you will develop your interpretive skills through the study of classic texts. You will be introduced to five different conceptions of philosophy and study texts illustrative of each, together with critical commentaries. This will teach you to appreciate the differences between styles of philosophical writing and thinking, the historical and philosophical reasons for those differences, and the implications for the kind of arguments that are produced. You will also learn how adopting these different styles can affect and inform your own way of thinking and arguing, and you will be encouraged to assess which of these styles better suits your skills and aims in studying philosophy.

This module has two aims: to introduce you to the various conceptions of philosophy that have existed over time, and to develop your interpretive skills through the study of classic texts. You will be introduced to five different conceptions of philosophy and study texts illustrative of each, together with critical commentaries.

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PHL1013: Philosophy of Morality

Almost daily we, both as individuals and as a society, are confronted with situations that are morally challenging. We are occasionally tempted to do things that we know to be wrong, and often we are not even sure what the right thing to do is. Amongst other things, we argue about the morality of abortion and assisted suicide, about animal rights and the rights of human embryos, about the permissibility of torture and the death penalty.

How do we know what is right and what is wrong? Philosophers have developed different theories that are meant to provide an answer. We will study these theories, look at various arguments that can be derived from them to show either the rightness or wrongness of certain actions or practices, e.g. abortion, and discuss their merits and weaknesses. No prior knowledge is required to complete this module.

The course introduces students to basic principles of the main contending moral theories and seeks to show how these are involved in assessing moral justifiability and obligation. It will also draw attention to the complex relation between moral theory and moral judgment on the one hand, and the factual status of the phenomena and situations to which moral reasoning and principles are applied on the other.

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PHL1004: Philosophical Problems 1

This module will introduce you to the kind of philosophical thinking that is involved in solving, or at least addressing, concrete philosophical problems. Each lecture will focus on such a problem, which will take the form of a concrete real-world example. Throughout the module, and through the lens of these examples, we will cover many of the core areas of philosophy. What sets this module apart from other general introductions to philosophy is its focus on concrete problematic examples. These examples themselves will guide your thinking and discussion, rather than what some famous philosopher happened to say. There is no prior knowledge or experience required, and there are no pre-requisite or co-requisite modules.

The aims of this module are both general and specific. The general aims are to introduce you to a way of approaching concrete problems with both clarity of thought and methodological sophistication. However, it will also introduce you to the fundamental nature and underlying motivations behind core areas and debates in philosophy. Too often students are told to read the two sides of a debate in philosophy without being first given an appreciation of why the debates in question are taking place. In stark contrast, this module situates, grounds and motivates key debates in philosophy, so that you will understand why so much ink has been spilled on certain (often seemingly trivial or obscure) issues.

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PHL1010: Introduction to Asian Philosophy

This module introduces you to some of the most important philosophical traditions of Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. It analyzes and discusses ancient classical texts in these traditions, and looks at different conceptions of reality, selfhood, consciousness, meditation, virtue and self-cultivation.

At the end of the module, you will be familiar with major Asian philosophical traditions, their historical and social background, and their central concepts as discussed in major classical texts. You will be aware of the existence of spiritual traditions concerned with the practice of self-cultivation, and understand the relationship between meditative practices and philosophical worldviews.

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PHL1112: Philosophy of Film

In this module, you will watch and discuss 10 films, with a view to investigating the philosophically interesting problems that they raise. Topics discussed include horror films, film and ethics, film and politics and the ontology of cinema. This module is suitable for all students. It does not require a prior background in philosophy.

Films often address philosophically interesting topics, but not in the manner of abstract philosophical books or articles. A film, like any fiction, tells a story, in which a philosophical idea may be obliquely conveyed. But it is also a visual article, which can further clarify or complicate its philosophical meaning. The nature of cinema as a medium is a philosophically interesting topic in its own right. This module introduces you to a variety of philosophical problems through film, and asks what cinema may contribute - if anything - to our understanding of those problems

This module is intended as an alternative introduction to philosophical thinking, adding an audio-visual dimension to more text-based modules. The module prepares students for further studies at stages 2 and 3 by introducing them to various ways in which philosophical thinking can be applied productively to hypothetical and real life problems in a wide variety of contexts. The module also provides important analytical and interpretative skills essential in an increasingly visual social world.

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SPA1004: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

This module will introduce the core societal, philosophical and ethical issues raised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) and provide a practical introduction to ethical use of Generative AI, with a focus on higher education. The module is suitable for all philosophy, sociology, criminology, anthropology, politics and international relations students who want to understand the philosophical issues related to AI and LLMs, and to acquire practical skills in the ethical use of AI.

• You will learn to identify and assess societal, philosophical and ethical issues raised by the development of artificial intelligence.
• You will learn research skills in ethically using Generative AI.
• You will develop core philosophical skills such as critical reflection, argumentation and clarity of expression.

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PHL2010A: Philosophy of Mind 1

In this module you will be introduced to the concept of 'The Mind'. You will consider what he mind is and discuss and be presented with conceptual issues that arise from these discussions. In the first half of the module, you will analyze the mind-body problem in its various facets: how it emerged, what it implies, and whether and how it can be overcome. At the end of the course, you will be familiar with major, classic and contemporary views, including "substance dualism", "property dualism", "behaviourism", "identity theory", "instrumentalism", "functionalism", and "eliminativism". You will demonstrate your knowledge of these theories, summarise and evaluate them and present and justify your own philosophical views with appropriate arguments. In the second half of the module, you will examine some central philosophical topics in recent philosophy of mind, such as the easy and hard problems of consciousness, the problem of mental causation, and puzzles concerning the nature, limits, and threats of artificial intelligence.

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PHL2015: Body and Mind

This module introduces current debates in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science over the extent to which our minds depend upon body and world. Many theorists argue that we can’t understand what minds are or how they work without considering how both the body-beyond-the-brain as well as our surrounding environments shape thought and experience. Some even argue that minds extend beyond skin and skull. This course investigates different ways of understanding these ideas, along with some of their philosophical, practical, ethical, and political consequences.

Questions include: How do embodied frameworks challenge traditional approaches to mind in philosophy and cognitive science? What is the relationship between movement, thought, and experience? What are some ways we experience and live through our bodies? Does the mind extend beyond the head? How does our body shape our experience of other people and the spaces we share? What does it mean to speak of bodies and space as political? What is an embodied approach to emotion? Gender? Race? Psychopathology? How does having a body shape our experience of self? How will emerging AI-powered technologies impact our bodily capacities?

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PHL2016: Metaphysics

Metaphysics has been concerned with philosophy's most fundamental questions and traditionally was thought of as drawing upon distinctively philosophical methods to answer questions that the sciences could not answer. For much of the 20th century 'metaphysics' was seen as an outdated and moribund pursuit by philosophers who believed that philosophy lacks any distinctive knowledge-begetting methods of its own. By the turn of the 21st century however, metaphysics had rebounded to become the fastest growing sector within philosophy. The module will provide you with an in depth study of the meaning of 'metaphysics', basic concepts of metaphysics and the nature of metaphysical inquiry into a variety of contemporary problems.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the place of metaphysics in the history of philosophy, to the challenges associated with the practice of metaphysics in contemporary thinking and with the principal problems that are presently addressed under the heading of metaphysics. You will become well versed in the nature of these problems and how one goes about addressing them from 'analytic', 'naturalistic' and 'critical' points of view.

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PHL2018: Philosophy of Language

This module will introduce you to one of the dominant contemporary traditions in philosophy. The Anglo-American analytic tradition places great emphasis upon understanding how language works, seeing the possibility of speaking meaningfully as an essential precursor to any philosophical endeavour. The module will provide you with a grounding in the basic philosophical approaches to meaning and reference, and in the canonical debates on these topics over the last hundred years, including the work of Frege, Quine, the verificationists, and the Ordinary Language philosophers.

The module seeks to familiarise you with the central place that philosophy of language occupies in contemporary analytic philosophy, with the influential positions that have been adopted by major figures in the field, and with the key points of the debates between them. You will gain a thorough overview of the philosophy of language, and the grounding necessary for more advanced study in analytic philosophy.

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PHL2043: Philosophical Research

In your philosophy degree thus far, you will have explored a range of philosophies and philosophers, many of which/whom represent the research interests of your lecturers. But have you ever wondered how your lecturers come up with their research ideas, and how their research actually develops? In other words, have you ever wondered what philosophy lecturers and researchers actually do when they're not in the classroom? This is a 'team taught module', in which you'll hear from several Exeter philosophy lecturers and researchers about their current research: what led them to their current research interests, how they developed their current research projects, and what their most recent discoveries, arguments and conclusions are. This module will introduce you to research in philosophy by engaging with the research, and research methods, of the philosophers at Exeter, and learn how to develop your own philosophical research project. The module functions as a precursor to the 3rd -year philosophy dissertation module (although, please note that this module is not a pre-requisite for PHL3040).

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PHL2118: Moral Agency in Social Context

The core theme of this module is the extent to which, and ways in which, moral perception, judgement and action may be socially conditioned and constrained. It consists in examination of the social conditions of morality, moral belief, moral agency, and moral responsibility, addressing such questions as: Is moral consciousness and agency determined by individuals' social conditions of existence, or are individuals' moral beliefs and agency internal powers that actively contribute to social reproduction and change? It will look at philosophical analyses of the nature and conditions of morality, and of the relation between individual moral agency and social context. It will examine these ideas in relation to the major social and economic institutions of modern society, such as, the maintenance and abolition of slavery, the justice and necessity of economic inequalities, obligations to aid people suffering life-threatening poverty, and the relationship between moral or political belief and action in conformity with such belief.

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HAS3999: Study Abroad

The Study Abroad programme enables you to undertake a year-long study placement at a partner university outside of the UK, as part of your degree programme.

This module serves as the administrative mechanism for recording the Study Abroad assessment results of students within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS). Students participating in the Study Abroad programme and based in a HASS department (except for the Law School, the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Modern Languages, and the School of Education) will be registered on this module during their Study Abroad placement year.

The Study Abroad programme widens the range of modules available to you during Stage 3 of your degree programme; enables you to broaden your academic horizons by studying in a different learning culture and (where relevant and appropriate) in languages other than English; and aims to promote resilience, independence, cultural awareness, and communication skills.

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PHL3040: Philosophy Dissertation

The writing of a philosophy dissertation offers you the opportunity to engage in a research project on a topic of your own choice. Guidance and support include discussions with the module convener, allocation of an expert academic supervisor and participation in small discussion groups of students working on similar topics. The main aim is for you to select a topic and way of working on a philosophical problem that suits you and through which you can show your acquired skills in independent research, philosophical analysis and writing. You may choose to engage with and discuss a specific traditional or current problem, a particular author or book, or write a philosophical essay on a current ethical, social or epistemological problem.

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