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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy

Postgraduate Course: PhD Philosophy Proseminar (PHIL12001)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 12 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits0 ECTS Credits0
SummaryThis is a general course for all first year Philosophy PhD students. The course will be taught by a different faculty member each week, and each week will focus on a different classic paper from across the discipline. Students will be expected to pre-read every week, and to make a short presentation at least once in each semester.
Course description The syllabus will be available at the beginning of the course. It will vary from year to year. Each week a different member of staff will lead a discussion of an important paper or work of philosophy in their area of specialisation.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 0 ( Lecture Hours 40, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 0 )
Assessment (Further Info) Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Assessment Methods
Additional Information (Assessment) No assessment.
Feedback Formative feedback will be available from staff and peers as part of the weekly discussions.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate understanding of some key arguments and ideas from classic texts in diverse areas of philosophy
  2. demonstrate improved reading, discussion and presentation skills
Reading List
Readings vary from year to year based on staff interests and availability, but past readings have included:

Brandom, Robert (2009). 'How Analytic Philosophy has Failed Cognitive Science' In his Reason in Philosophy, Harvard University Press.

Peirce, Charles Sanders (1878) "How to make our ideas clear" Popular Science Monthly 12: 286-302.

Churchland, Patricia. S., Ramachandran, V. S., & Sejnowski, T. J. (1994). A Critique of Pure Vision, In: C. Koch and J. Davis (Eds.), Large-Scale Neuronal Theories of the Brain (MIT Press, Cam. MA) 1-25.

Korsgaard, Christine M. (1989). Personal identity and the unity of agency: A Kantian response to Parfit. Philosophy and Public Affairs 18 (2):103-31.

Akins, Kathleen (1996). Of sensory systems and the "aboutness" of mental states. Journal of Philosophy 93 (7):337--372.

Quine, W.V.O. (1948). On What There Is. Review of Metaphysics 2 (5):21--36.

Frege, G.. (1948). Sense and Reference. The Philosophical Review, 57(3), 209-230.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Critical thinking; oral presentation; close and critically engaged reading
Additional Class Delivery Information The course will be led by various members of faculty within Philosophy.
KeywordsPhilosophy; ethics; metaphysics; philosophy of mind; philosophy of language; philosophy of science
Contacts
Course organiserDr Alix Cohen
Tel:
Email: Alix.Cohen@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Becky Verdon
Tel: (0131 6)50 3860
Email: Rebecca.Verdon@ed.ac.uk
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