Undergraduate Course: Advanced Topics in Philosophy (PHIL10211)
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 | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will examine some particular issue or set of issues in philosophy. The specific content for the year (topic, representative readings) will be advertised during the course selection process. |
| Course description |
This year's topic will be Pain and Pleasure.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014) AND
Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08017)
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students studying on MA Cognitive Science (Humanities) are permitted to take this course without having met the pre-requisites of Mind, Matter and Language and Knowledge and Reality. However, it is advisable that students discuss the suitability of the course with their PT and the course organiser before enrolling. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
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 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Midterm Essay (40%)
Final Essay (60%)
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Display understanding of a range of issues.
- Critically analyse and engage with literature by key philosophers.
- Present arguments clearly and concisely both within a classroom context and in a written essay.
- Demonstrate transferrable skills in research, analysis and argumentation.
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Reading List
Frank Jackson. (1993) Perception: a representative theory.
Corns ed. (2017) The Routledge handbook of philosophy of pain.
Aydede ed. (2005) Pain: new essays on its nature and the methodology of its study
Armstrong. (1993) A materialist theory of the mind
Bain. (2003). Intentionalism and Pain
Tye. (1995). A Representational Theory of Pains and their Phenomenal Character
Hyman. (2003) Pains and Places
Bain. (2007). The Location of Pains
Klein. (2007). An Imperative Theory of Pain
Bain. (2011). The Imperative View of Pain
Corns (2014). The inadequacy of unitary characterizations of pain
Melzack and Wall. (1996). The challenge of pain
Grahek. (2007). Feeling pain and being in pain
Dennett (1978). Why You Can't Make a Computer that Feels Pain
Corns. (2016). Pain eliminativism: scientific and traditional -
Heathwood. (2007). The reduction of sensory pleasure to desire
Rachels. (2000). Is unpleasantness intrinsic to unpleasant experiences
Bain. (2013). What makes pains unpleasant?
Bain. (2014). Pains that Don't Hurt -
De Vignemont. (2015). Pain and Bodily Care: Whose Body Matters? -
Bramble. (2013). The distinctive feeling theory of pleasure -
Berridge. (2004). Motivation concepts in behavioral neuroscience
Corns and Cowan. (2020). Lessons for Ethics from the Science of Pain
Derbyshire. (2006). Can fetuses feel pain?
Jacobson. (2013). Killing the Messenger: Representationalism and the Painfulness of Pain
Brady. (2015). Feeling Bad and Seeing Bad
Bain. (2017). Why Take Painkillers?
Cutter and Tye. (2014). Pains and reasons: why it is rational to kill the messenger |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Matthew Kinakin
Tel:
Email: mkinakin@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Joan MacKenzie
Tel:
Email: jmacken8@ed.ac.uk |
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