Knowledge and Mind

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the rationalist project, its motivations, and the problems it faces.
• the relationship between the views of the rationalists and contemporary discussions of the topics in question.
• some of the central issues raised in the work of rationalist philosophers.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• take notes from talks and written materials.
• work effectively to deadlines.
• undertake, with adequate supervision, independent work, including identifying and using appropriate resources.
• work as part of a team in your essay group meetings on the analysis and evaluation of texts.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• interpret, synthesise and criticise complex texts and positions.
• present and debate ideas, both orally and in writing, in an open minded and rigorous way.

The syllabus for this module may vary from year to year. It may include topics such as:

• What sort of knowledge, if any, can we have of the external world?
• What am I?
• How does the mind relate to the body?
• Is there a God?
• What are material objects?
• Are we free in thought or action?

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• Lectures
• In-class discussion
• Essay group tutorials

Learning activities include

• Attending lectures
• Contributing to discussion in lectures and tutorials
• Doing research for and writing assessed essays
• Applying techniques and skills learnt to your reading and writing inside and outside the module

In the lectures, you will not only be introduced to the philosophical issues central to this module and the ideas of the philosophers studied but also encouraged to think about them for yourself. Your own ideas and any difficulties you encounter can be raised and discussed in essay group meetings. The writing of essays should involve you in thinking deeply about the relevant issues and texts.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Descartes. Meditations on First Philosophy.

Spinoza. Ethics.

Leibniz. Discourse on Metaphysics.

Malebranche. The Search After Truth.

J Cottingham (1988). The Rationalists. Oxford University Press.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External