Undergraduate Course: Representation and Reality (PHIL10243)
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 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Some statements appear to describe a part of objective reality whose existence is philosophically doubtful. Candidate examples include statements about numbers, about what's right and wrong, about taste, about objective chance, about the future, about God. This course explores how we might understand these statements, and the thoughts they express. |
| Course description |
This is a course in analytic metaphysics, with close connections to philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, meta-ethics, and philosophy of mathematics. We'll try to figure out whether statements and beliefs about (say) numbers, morality, chance, or God, can be meaningful even if they don't represent a part of objective reality. Positions we might discuss include subjectivism, relativism, expressivism, fictionalism, and quasi-realism. Participants can expect to strengthen their ability to understand and evaluate challenging views and to engage in open-minded but precise discussion.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Essay 80% (up to 2,000 words)
Comments on weekly readings 20% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically evaluate positions beyond naive realism and error theory
- Defend opinions about challenging topics in a collective environment
- Clearly present their arguments in writing
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Reading List
Indicative reading list: -
Stuart Brock and Edwin Mares, Realism and Anti-Realism (2007)
Justin Clark-Doane, Morality and Mathematics (2020)
Andrew Fisher, Metaethics (2011) - Simon Blackburn, Spreading the Word (1984), chapters 5-6
Richard Jeffrey, The Logic of Decision (1983), chapter 12
Stephen Yablo, "The Myth of the Seven" (2005)
Amie Thomasson, "Fictionalism versus Deflationism" (2013)
Adam Toon, "Fictionalism and the Folk" (2016) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Reading and understanding challenging texts
Engage in critical discussion
Practice open-mindedness
Clear writing |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Wolfgang Schwarz
Tel:
Email: Wolfgang.Schwarz@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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