Texts will vary depending on the theme of the module at a given time.

They may include:
C.D.C. Reeve, The Practices of Reason: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, (Clarendon, 1995)
D. Sheppard, Guide to Plato's Republic, Edinburgh UP, 2006.
Plato, Republic (Penguun, 2001)
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, ed. R. Crisp (CUP, 2000)
A. Rorty (ed), Essays on Aristotle's Ethics (University of California Press, 1981)

One essay 500 words [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3]
Second essay 2000 words [Learning Outcomes 1,2,3,4,5]

These modules are core for all philosophy students. This is because they provide a set of philosophical skills and knowledge without which a philosophy degree would be stunted or fragmentary. In particular, these modules aim to fulfil three key elements of a good philosophical education:

ONE, a historical sense, by which a philosopher is able to maximise the fecundity of philosophical concepts or analyses encountered;

TWO, a capacity to read, by which a philosopher is able to penetrate a way of thought deeply and see it as part of a coherent overarching movement of thinking;

THREE, the ability to build a philosophical case, by representing in prose just such a coherent movement.

These broad ends are achieved by close textual analysis and philosophical investigation of a small number of representative philosophical texts from the history of philosophy. The texts in question will be chosen insofar as they represent a least some of the concerns and styles of their age, while also contributing to the historical development of the discipline.

Within these aims, and within the learning outcomes given above, the choice of texts will not be fixed. Indicative texts would be:

Lucretius, De rerum natura
Plato, Republic, Phaedo, Meno
Aristotle, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Physics
Augustine Confessions

Lecture and seminar. The lecture would aim to introduce the week's topic and indicate key issues to look out for in reading. The seminar would aim to establish clarity in interpretation, and to offer a model of contextualised philosophical interpretative technique.

Lecture room, seminar room, white or blackboard facilities, library and IT facilities.