The main focus will be guided independent study within a tightly structured framework, and starting from reading and research materials supplied. Week by week you will work through course materials ('lectures' and associated files, delivered via blackboard) that provide guidance in reading key texts, and undertaking the specific tasks set. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis as independent study, but you will be expected regularly to interact with fellow students, and tutors, or guest lecturers through the discussion forum. The time spent reading supplied 'lectures' and contributing to the discussion forum will likely be 36 hours over the course of the term. The module will run over 16 weeks; 12 weeks of guided instruction and discussion, plus 4 weeks to complete assessments.

Burnham, Douglas. (2004) Kant's Philosophies of Judgement. Edinburgh.
Heidegger, Martin. (1997) A Phenomenological Interpretation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Emad and Maly. Indiana.
Kant, Immanuel. (1984) The Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. Pluhar. Hackett.
McGrath, S. J. (2012) The Dark Ground of Spirit: Schelling and the Unconscious. Routledge.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. (2005) The Nietzsche Reader. Ed. Ansell-Pearson and Large. Blackwell.

These indicate the range of texts the module might cover. This is not meant to be a recommended or required book list. Please consult the module tutor for required books.

A computer with internet connection for accessing Blackboard.
Course texts and course learning pack.
Library resources including books, journals, data bases cd-rom, websites, ejournals, ebrary and other electronic resources.
IT facilities including word processing.

Much of 19th Century thought can be understood as a productive debate between philosophers working in an idealist tradition - where the key questions are to do with the conditions of possibility of thought or presentation, whether these conditions are understood transcendentally or historically - and those working in a broadly materialist tradition - where the key questions concern the material basis of both mind and appearance. This thematic will be used to investigate key figures and positions within this period, whilst allowing also for the possibility that staging the debate in this way might obscure certain other problems, themes or methods. Philosophers studied will be selected from a list that includes Kant, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Lange, Marx, Nietzsche, Bergson, among others. Throughout, critical reference will be made to the transformations that these ideas, and the philosophers that espoused them, received at the hands of more recent Continental Philosophy (e.g. Heidegger's Kant, Deleuze or Foucault's Nietzsche).

An Online Discussion Contribution, including an element directed towards preparation for the essay, weighted at 30%.
- Participation (30%) You are required to participate in and contribute substantially to the discussion forum, in most weeks of the teaching cycle. (learning outcomes 1, 2, 4).

An ESSAY length 5000 WORDS weighted at 70%.
An Online Discussion Contribution, including an element directed towards preparation for the essay, weighted at 30%.
- 1 x 5000 word essay (70%) The essay will require you to show your overall appreciation of the concerns of the module. It will enable you to demonstrate your comprehensive understanding of the module and your flexibility in applying your knowledge to specific concerns. (learning outcomes 1-4).