Postgraduate Course: Philosophy of Well-Being MSc (PHIL11155)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will examine well-being, a central issue in moral philosophy.
Shared with undergraduate course Philosophy of Well-Being PHIL10152.
For courses co-taught with undergraduate students and with no remaining undergraduate spaces left, a maximum of 8 MSc students can join the course. Priority will be given to MSc students who wish to take the course for credit on a first come first served basis after matriculation.
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| Course description |
The course has two (roughly equal) parts:
Part 1: In this part we examine the main theories of well-being. These include hedonism, desire-fulfillment theory, objective-list theory, perfectionism. We will also look at some more recently developed theories, including hybrid theories.
Part 2: In this part we examine some general theoretical issues connected to well-being. These include: attempts to understand how well-being differs from other kinds of evaluation (moral, aesthetic, etc) and scepticism about the concept of well-being. We will also look at whether well-being is holistic by examining whether lifetime well-being is some simple function from momentary well-being (the 'shape of a life' debate). We will also examine how time and death connect to well-being, by looking at issues such as the timing of prudential goods, whether (and why) death is bad for us, and whether posthumous events can impact well-being (and, if so, how).
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- develop core philosophical skills in philosophy interpreting authors, reconstructing and evaluating arguments, articulating theories, etc.
- gain knowledge of the main theories of well-being, and their strengths and weakness.
- defend the student's preferred theory (if any).
- understand some of the main philosophical debates and practical issues which the theory of wellbeing has implications for.
- gain confidence to give a short class presentation with the help of clear visual aids and ability to write an essay on the theory of well-being which displays critical assessment along with knowledge of the literature.
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Reading List
Textbook: G. Fletcher (2016) The Philosophy of Well-Being: An
Introduction.
This book will have a chapter corresponding to each week of class,giving a general overview of the topic. This will be supplemented with chapters from my (edited) 'Handbook of the Philosophy of Well-Being' along with other papers and books.
Full reading list available on Learn. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
Please see Learn |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Reading skills
Writing skills
Presentation skills
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| Keywords | Well-Being,Happiness,Utility |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Guy Fletcher
Tel: (0131 6)51 7112
Email: Guy.Fletcher@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Becky Verdon
Tel: (0131 6)50 3860
Email: Rebecca.Verdon@ed.ac.uk |
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