Undergraduate Course: Banned Books and Dangerous Ideas in Early Modern Philosophy (PHIL10244)
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 provide an in-depth look at a few key 17th and 18th century philosophy texts that were banned or considered dangerous at the time of their publication. Texts and authors covered may vary from year to year. |
| Course description |
Students will critically examine some of the most influential and controversial ideas in 17th and 18th century philosophy. Some of the works studied are now regarded as central contributions to the history of philosophy, and contemporary readers may have a hard time appreciating what made these works so radical. For this reason, students will study the primary texts themselves but also learn about their publication history and reception. Students will learn about the history of debates about censorship, free speech, and toleration of philosophical and religious disagreement, through the study of particular cases. Themes covered include: the relationship of early modern science to religion; religious skepticism and irreligious movements; challenges to Christian morality, to social and gender norms, and to political authority.
Authors studied will change from year to year but may include: Giordano Bruno, Émilie du Châtelet, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Ottobah Cugoano, René Descartes, Galileo Galilei, David Hume, Bernard Mandeville, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Baruch Spinoza, John Toland, and Mary Wollstonecraft.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08017) AND
Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014)
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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 Student Adviser 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
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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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) |
Midterm Essay 35% 1500 words
Final Essay 55% 2500 words
Participation 10% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically read and evaluate historical philosophical texts.
- Research and understand the publication history and reception of historical texts.
- Interpret arguments in the history of philosophy charitably.
- Communicate philosophical concepts and arguments effectively, both in writing and in conversation.
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Reading List
Representative Primary Texts:
Galilei, Galileo, and Maurice A Finocchiaro. The Essential Galileo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2008.
Hume, David, and Norman Kemp Smith. Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Second edition. New York: Social Sciences Publishers, 1948.
Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Alan S Trueblood. A Sor Juana Anthology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Spinoza, Benedictus de, and G. H. R. Parkinson. Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Relevant Background Reading:
Finocchiaro, Maurice A. On Trial for Reason: Science, Religion, and Culture in the Galileo Affair. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Koyré, Alexandre. From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe. New York: Harper, 1958.
Nadler, Steven M. A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza¿s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2011.
Tortarolo, Edoardo. The Invention of Free Press: Writers and Censorship in Eighteenth Century Europe. Dordrecht: Springer Nature, 2016. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry; personal and intellectual autonomy; communication
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jennifer Marusic
Tel:
Email: Jennifer.Marusic@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Joan MacKenzie
Tel:
Email: jmacken8@ed.ac.uk |
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