100% by continuous and formative portfolio. (4000 words)
[Learning outcomes 1 - 5]

Key Information Set Data:
Coursework 80% of assessment
Practical exams 20%

Philosophy involves the analysis of the nature and validity of our ideas or practices. This module will take as its initial 'texts' everyday object or events (e.g. debates in the press, typical dilemmas of consumerism, notions of friendship, love, health, etc.) and search for the philosophical assumptions that organise such objects. It is anticipated that such assumptions will concern, among other things, the nature of knowledge, ethical behaviour, happiness, personal identity, social and political power, & etc. The module will analyse such assumptions using the full battery of philosophical tools, including analysis, research, argumentation and the reading and application of selections from historical philosophical texts.

This module will also be the occasion for the introduction of a wide range of non-disciplinary skills, such as effective communication, group work, PDP, research, time management, and so forth. These topics will be continued across the rest of the philosophy degrees.

Seminar/ workshop room with computer and projector; library resources; office space for tutorials; university computing facilities; Blackboard.

Contact time will comprise some or all of: lectures, seminars, small group work, individual or small group scheduled tutorials, whole or partial group workshops, student individual or group presentations, in-class tests or other in-class forms of assessment, student-led group discussions, student-requested or drop-in tutorials, telephone or other technology-assisted tutorials or conferences, visiting speakers, and on-line discussion, advice or feedback.
The Continuous and Formative Portfolio will consist of a set of elements, all of a formative (learn while doing) nature, and variously distributed throughout the teaching semester. There may also be diagnostic-formative assessments (learn while doing, but not formally assessed). The portfolio may include some or all of the following elements, among others: bibliographic exercises, PDP development diaries, quizzes, essay planning exercises, oral examinations, short answer or multiple choice in-class tests, self-evaluative exercises or reports, exposition essays, research essays, mentoring evaluations, individual or group oral presentations, presentation write-ups or evaluations, informal logic exercises, dissertations, field work reports and discussions, evaluation reports, literature reviews, on-line discussion forum contribution, continuous assessments of performance or contribution, on-line workshop write-ups, critical discussions, article or book reviews, research plans, methodological reviews and evaluations, career planning exercises and reports, take-away examinations, draft versions of any of the above, revised versions of any of the above. All elements of assessment within the portfolio must be passed for the module to be passed.

Key Information Set Data:
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities 15%
Guided Independent Learning 85%

Arp and Watson. (2011). Critical Thinking. Continuum.
Arthur. (2003) Studying Philosophy. Prentice Hall.
Burnham. (2003). Get Set for Philosophy. EUP.
Cahn (ed.). (2008). Classics of Western Philosophy. Hackett.
Droit, (2002). Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life. Faber&Faber.
Kaplin. (2000). Philosophy and Everyday Life. Chatham.
Knopp, (2002). Philosophy of Everyday Life. University Press.
Soccio. (2012). How to Get the Most out of Philosophy. Wadsworth.