Module Descriptors
TRADITION AND REVOLUTION 1
PHIL40118
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 4
15 credits
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 23
Independent Study Hours: 127
Total Learning Hours: 150
Assessment
- CRITICAL ANALYSIS weighted at 20%
- PORTFOLIO weighted at 80%
Module Details
Module Indicative Content
The module will comprise three components:
1. The first half of this component will be dedicated to a sustained study of the work of Descartes. In the second half, students will engage with a series of readings on an ethical problem, e.g. freedom. These will be taken from different historical periods and will reflect different styles of philosophising.
2. Philosophy Skills. The component will introduce and develop a range of the analytic, argumentative and writing skills required for the successful study and practice of philosophy. Particular attention will be given to the skills of moral reasoning.
3. Information skills. The component will introduce and develop the skills required for the successful use of a) the Library Information Services, b) general Windows-based Information Technology, c) web-based information search, retrieval and evaluation.
1. The first half of this component will be dedicated to a sustained study of the work of Descartes. In the second half, students will engage with a series of readings on an ethical problem, e.g. freedom. These will be taken from different historical periods and will reflect different styles of philosophising.
2. Philosophy Skills. The component will introduce and develop a range of the analytic, argumentative and writing skills required for the successful study and practice of philosophy. Particular attention will be given to the skills of moral reasoning.
3. Information skills. The component will introduce and develop the skills required for the successful use of a) the Library Information Services, b) general Windows-based Information Technology, c) web-based information search, retrieval and evaluation.
Module Learning Strategies
Component 1:
The component will be taught in a two-hour class, adopting a flexible methodology. Primarily, students will be divided into workshop groups, each facilitated by one tutor. Key sessions within each of the thematic units will be introduced by the tutor responsible.
Component 2:
The component will be taught by a combination of tutor-led discussion and small working groups to develop skills in analysis, argumentation and essay writing. In general this will involve clearly focused and careful analysis of passages in the primary texts discussed in component 1 that week. On the basis of this work, students will develop several non-assessed written critical analyses. Two of these analyses will then be developed into pieces of work for assessment.
Component 3:
A proportion of the module will be delivered via technology enabled distributed learning.
The component will be taught in a two-hour class, adopting a flexible methodology. Primarily, students will be divided into workshop groups, each facilitated by one tutor. Key sessions within each of the thematic units will be introduced by the tutor responsible.
Component 2:
The component will be taught by a combination of tutor-led discussion and small working groups to develop skills in analysis, argumentation and essay writing. In general this will involve clearly focused and careful analysis of passages in the primary texts discussed in component 1 that week. On the basis of this work, students will develop several non-assessed written critical analyses. Two of these analyses will then be developed into pieces of work for assessment.
Component 3:
A proportion of the module will be delivered via technology enabled distributed learning.
Module Additional Assessment Details
A critical analysis [Learning Outcomes 1,2,4,5]
A portfolio of work to include
(a) an essay of 1200 words [Learning Outcomes 1-4]
(b) a report of 400 words on a resource search relating to the essay topic [Learning Outcome 5]
A portfolio of work to include
(a) an essay of 1200 words [Learning Outcomes 1-4]
(b) a report of 400 words on a resource search relating to the essay topic [Learning Outcome 5]
Module Resources
University Library, IT resources, Independent and group study facilities
Module Texts
Cottingham, John (ed) Western Philosophy: an Anthology. (Blackwell, 1996)
A philosophical dictionary (either Penguin or Oxford).
Descartes, Rene, A Discourse on Method, Meditations and Principles, ed. T Sorrell (Everyman, 1997).
A philosophical dictionary (either Penguin or Oxford).
Descartes, Rene, A Discourse on Method, Meditations and Principles, ed. T Sorrell (Everyman, 1997).