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Introduction to Western Philosophy - course description

General information
Course name Introduction to Western Philosophy
Course ID 08.1-WH-UZ-F-IWPh- 1
Faculty Faculty of Humanities
Field of study WH - oferta ERASMUS / Philosophy
Education profile -
Level of studies First-cycle Erasmus programme
Beginning semester winter term 2024/2025
Course information
Semester 1
ECTS credits to win 10
Course type obligatory
Teaching language english
Author of syllabus
Classes forms
The class form Hours per semester (full-time) Hours per week (full-time) Hours per semester (part-time) Hours per week (part-time) Form of assignment
Class 30 2 - - Credit with grade

Aim of the course

Introduction to the philosophical ideas developed by thinkers related to the development of Western philosophy.

Prerequisites

none

Scope

This course aim is to introduce the most fundamental contributions to Western philosophy made by thinkers over the centuries. The time span stretches from the sixth century BC to the first half of the last century. The philosophers covered include: pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, William of Ockham, St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, N. Machiavelli, Erasmus, Thomas More, Thomas Hobbes, R. Descartes, B. Pascal, B. Spinoza, John Locke, George Berkeley, J. J. Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, G. W. Hegel, S. Kierkegaard, , K. Marx, L. Wittgenstein, B. Russell, M. Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Karl Popper and C. Levi-Strauss.

Teaching methods

Each meeting comprises the following parts:

  1. A general description of a given philosopher or a philosophical system related to the reading assignment for the current meeting.

  2. A presentation given by selected students describing the reading assignment for the current meeting.

  3. A discussion of the ideas presented in 1., 2. and in the reading assignment.

  4. A reading assignment for the next meeting. This will be a text representative of a given philosophical system or a specific philosopher.

Learning outcomes and methods of theirs verification

Outcome description Outcome symbols Methods of verification The class form

Assignment conditions

LEARNING OUTCOMES VERIFICATION AND assessment criteria:

Students will be evaluated in relation to each of the parts 1.-4. as follows:

 

  1. General knowledge of the presented philosophical systems (a test at the end of the term).

  2. Student contribution to the preparation of the assigned presentation (evaluation during presentation).

  3. Activity during discussion (evaluation during discussion).

  4. Knowledge of the assigned reading (evaluation during meetings).

 

The final grade is a weighted sum of the above partial grades.

Recommended reading

Recommended reading:

  1. Kenny, A New History of Western Philosophy, Oxford University Press 2011.

  2. The Problems of Philosophy, B. Russell, various editions

  3. Plato, Symposium

  4. Aristotle, Metaphysics

  5. R. Bacon, On Experimental Science

  6. Erasmus, The Praise of Folly

  7. F. Bacon, Novum Organum Scientarum

  8. Thomas More,Utopia

  9. R. Descartes, Discourse on the Method

  10. F. Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

  11. D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature

  12. J. J. Rousseau, The Social Contract

  13. I. Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

  14. K. Marx, F. Engels, Communist Manifesto

  15. K. Popper, Logic of Scientific Discovery

Further reading

Notes


Modified by dr Paweł Walczak, prof. UZ (last modification: 10-12-2024 13:18)