15 credits
Level 1
First Sub Session
15 credits
Level 1
First Sub Session
We will examine questions such as: Do animals have rights? Is eating animals immoral? Is being a good or a bad person a matter of luck? If so, are we justified in punishing bad people? Should anyone be able to set limits on what you can do with your own body, even if it’s ‘for your own good’? Should everyone be allowed to state their mind, even if their views are harmful or offensive? Is censorship ever justifiable? Do you have a moral obligation to help those who are worse-off than you? Are you unknowingly biased against underprivileged groups?
15 credits
Level 1
Second Sub Session
15 credits
Level 1
Second Sub Session
15 credits
Level 2
First Sub Session
15 credits
Level 2
First Sub Session
15 credits
Level 2
Second Sub Session
15 credits
Level 2
Second Sub Session
30 credits
Level 3
First Sub Session
The course will focus on the main topics in contemporary philosophy of physics, namely philosophy of quantum mechanics, philosophy of space-time and philosophy of statistical mechanics (in varying proportions - or alternation - from year to year). In 2014-15 the main topic will be quantum mechanics. Previous familiarity with these physical theories will not be assumed.
15 credits
Level 3
First Sub Session
Ontology is the branch of metaphysics that studies questions of existence. Are there numbers? Are there properties? Are there tables and chairs? If there are numbers, do they exist in the same way as tables and chairs? And what is existence, anyway? The course has three parts. We start off with a historical overview of the topic, and then we investigate some of its central notions. Finally, we undertake a case study of one of the classic questions of ontology.
15 credits
Level 3
First Sub Session
The aim of ‘Philosophical Texts’ courses is to spend a semester engaged in a close reading of an influential and accessible philosophical text. This course focuses on David Hume’s Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding (1748/1777). This important text continues to exert a strong influence in contemporary metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of mind. Topics covered will include: the mind-world relation and the nature of thought; the nature of causation and causal explanation; the nature of objectivity; the self and personal identity. Classroom sessions will take the form of student led seminars, with supporting material from the lecture delivered via MyAberdeen.
30 credits
Level 3
First Sub Session
30 credits
Level 3
First Sub Session
30 credits
Level 3
Second Sub Session
15 credits
Level 3
Second Sub Session
15 credits
Level 3
Second Sub Session
The aim of ‘Philosophical Texts’ courses is to spend a semester engaged in close reading of an influential and accessible philosophical text. This course focuses on David Hume’s Enquiries Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751/1777). Hume’s work exerts a strong influence in contemporary ethics and related disciplines (eg. philosophy of action, the free will debate, etc) Topics covered will include: how moral reasoning works; the possibility of free will and its relation to moral responsibility; subjectivism and relativism about morality. Classroom sessions take the form of student led seminars, with supporting material from the lecture delivered via MyAberdeen
30 credits
Level 3
Second Sub Session
Research Related Subject 1 - The Metaphysics of Possible Worlds. In almost any area of contemporary philosophy, eventually you'll encounter talk of possible worlds. Physicalism, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions, mental content are often analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I'm a concert violist? If so, what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes or abstract representations? Or is possible worlds talk a useful fiction? We’ll consider this and more.
30 credits
Level 3
Second Sub Session
In
Reason & Argument, you learnt about logic with the aim of building skills
to enhance your reasoning by applying logical techniques to language and
argument. This course has a very different goal. Rather than applying reason
and logic to problems in general, we are going to make reason itself the object
of our investigation. The course is mainly concerned with one problem: how
powerful is reason? What can we expect from it and what are its limitations?
This leads us to two of the most important results in twentieth century logic: completeness
theorem and Gödel’s incompleteness theorem
30 credits
Level 4
First Sub Session
The course will focus on the main topics in contemporary philosophy of physics, namely philosophy of quantum mechanics, philosophy of space-time and philosophy of statistical mechanics (in varying proportions - or alternation - from year to year). In 2014-15 the main topic will be quantum mechanics. Previous familiarity with these physical theories will not be assumed.
30 credits
Level 4
Full Year
30 credits
Level 4
First Sub Session
15 credits
Level 4
First Sub Session
30 credits
Level 4
First Sub Session
15 credits
Level 4
First Sub Session
This advanced course in epistemology offers a critical overview of hot issues currently debated. We will first investigate the apparently intractable problems of bootstrapping and easy knowledge. We will then focus on phenomenal conservatism (possibly the most general conception of epistemic justification nowadays). We will assess its advantages and disadvantages. In the second part of the course we will consider topics in social epistemology, such as testimony and disagreement. We will also critically survey current explanations of how we attain modal knowledge (i.e. knowledge of what is possible and impossible).
15 credits
Level 4
Second Sub Session
30 credits
Level 4
Second Sub Session
Research Related Subject 1 - The Metaphysics of Possible Worlds. In almost any area of contemporary philosophy, eventually you'll encounter talk of possible worlds. Physicalism, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions,mental content are often analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I'm a concert violist? If so, what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes or abstract representations? Or is possible worlds talk a useful fiction? We’ll consider this and more.
15 credits
Level 4
Second Sub Session
Do we always have an overriding reason to be moral? Would we have such a reason if we were guaranteed that we could get away with doing evil? What is the difference between a good and a bad person? What is the difference between a good and a bad life? How important is pleasure to happiness? To what extent is our happiness up to us? What is the relationship between virtue and happiness? Can virtue be taught? This course will attempt to address these questions through close-reading and discussion of responses offered by three philosophical giants: Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato
30 credits
Level 4
Second Sub Session
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