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This is the provisional list of MA modules due to run in the academic year 2025/26.
Click on the titles below to see more information, including a module description and a provisional syllabus. Module leader email addresses can be found via the staff pages. For times and locations, please use the UCL common timetable (which will be updated in early September).
Term 1
- PHIL0025 Logic and its Limits
Module Leader: Peter Fritz
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem Set 1 (25%); Problem Set 2 (25%); Problem Set 3 (25%); Problem Set 4 (25%)
Description: The purpose of this module is to present basic methods and results concerning first-order logic. The emphasis is on the practical skill of formulating and proving results in and about logical systems. Students are introduced to basic set theory, enumerability and non-enumerability, cardinality, soundness and completeness, the Compactness and Löwenheim-Skolem Theorems, and inexpressibility results. As part of this, we discuss and practice informally proving abstract mathematical results, as well as formalizing such results and proofs using first-order logic.The expected background for this module is propositional and predicate logic as it is covered in a standard introduction to formal logic. This includes familiarity with the languages of propositional and predicate logic, formalization of informal arguments in these languages, evaluating propositional formulas using truth tables, evaluating formulas of predicate logic using models, model-theoretic notions such as validity and consequence, some form of proof system, and corresponding proof-theoretic notions such as provability and consistency. A main component of the module is regular problem sets.
- PHIL0041 Early Wittgenstein
Module Leader: José Zalabardo
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: The purpose of this module is to present some of the central doctrines of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The module focuses on the account offered in this book of the structure of reality and our ability to represent it in thought and language. We will also study ideas of Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege that are relevant for the development of Wittgenstein’s thought.
The module will enable you to understand these important ideas, overcoming the obscurity of Wittgenstein’s writing. This will contribute to your general understanding of the central philosophical issues that Wittgenstein addresses. It will also develop your ability to interpret difficult philosophical texts.
Topics covered by the module will include:
Russell’s dual-relation theory of judgment
Russell’s multiple-relation theory of judgment
Russell and Wittgenstein on forms
Wittgenstein’s picture theory
Frege on unity and unsaturatedness
Wittgenstein on the unity of the proposition
Wittgenstein on the unity of facts
Objects and expressions as common structural features
Substance and simplicity
Teaching Delivery
The module will be delivered by weekly two-hour lecture/seminars, combining presentation of material by the lecturer and general discussion of the ideas presented. You will be expected to do preparatory reading for each session.By the end of the module:
You will have gained a deep understanding of some of the central ideas put forward by Wittgenstein in his early period.
You will be able to connect Wittgenstein’s proposals to contemporary debates in metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.
You will have enhanced your interpretative skills regarding difficult philosophical texts.
You will have developed your ability to grasp and discuss highly abstract philosophical issues.Recommended Reading
In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1974. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Translated by D. F. Pears and B. McGuinness. 2nd ed. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Original edition, 1961.
Zalabardo, José L. 2015. Representation and Reality in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.- PHIL0045 Making Sense of the Senses
Module Leader: Mark Kalderon
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: C.D. Broad offers a comparative phenomenology of vision, audition, and touch highlighting the important differences between them. We will assess Broad’s comparative phenomenology drawing upon analytic, continental, historical and psychological literature. The aim is to introduce the student to advance themes in philosophy of perception through this assessment of Broad’s comparative phenomenology. The class will be conducted as a seminar with student presentations
For relatively recent analytic discussion of these issues, the student might consult the optional reading Perception and Its Modalities edited by Dustin Stokes, Mohan Matthen, and Stephen Biggs. Oxford University Press, 2014.
- PHIL0053 Philosophy of Religion
Module Leader: Rory Phillips
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This historically-focused module will introduce students to a range of thinkers from the European tradition who have made important contributions to the philosophy of religion. Importantly, this course will try to take seriously the importance of many authors’ theological and philosophical commitments, especially when concerning authors for whom these disciplines were inseparable, like authors of late antiquity and the medieval period. Primary texts will be the core readings for every week, supplemented by commentary and engagement from contemporary philosophers. Every week there will be a 45-minute lecture followed by an hour-long seminar. Representative thinkers and topics include: Augustine on sin and grace; Anselm on the ontological argument and the workings of salvation; Aquinas on the argument from contingency; Luther on the separation of theology from philosophy and the nature of free will; Leibniz on the actual world as best of all possible; Hume on miracles and the argument from appearance of design; Kant on the impossibility of traditional arguments for God; Schleiermacher on religion as a feeling of absolute dependence.- PHIL0057 Topics in German Idealism
Module Leader: Rory Phillips
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This module focuses on central issues in the writings of the German Idealists – Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel – with special attention to the ways in which they develop and transform Kant's philosophy. The module will be ordered roughly chronologically, beginning with the late work of Kant, moving through Fichte and Schelling and ending with Hegel. Representative topics include the nature of self-consciousness and the different ways (morality, nature, history) that self-consciousness is embedded, the nature of moral authority, the relationship between art, nature, and the self, the importance of history, and so on. Every week there will be selected primary texts available on Moodle, as well as supporting secondary literature. The class will be roughly a 45-minute lecture followed by an hour-long seminar. The aim of the module is to serve as an advanced introduction to the German Idealists and their chief concerns, as well as understanding how they fit into the story of philosophy after Kant. Some background knowledge of Kant is advantageous but not necessary.
- PHIL0068 Metaethics
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This module will introduce you to contemporary metaethics, a discipline which asks philosophical questions about ethics. The four questions at the centre of the course are: (i) are there truths about ethics – about what is good, bad, right, wrong, and so on? (ii) are these truths objective? (iii) are these truths part of the natural world, and (iv) how does our ethical thought and language work? You will investigate these questions by learning about the major theories defended in contemporary metaethics, and as part of this you will learn about various specific problems and questions investigated by contemporary philosophers in this area.
The module will cover the following topics, which may be subject to variation depending on developments in academic research and the interests of the class:
The five theories we will discuss are:- Moral naturalism: the view that there are ethical truths, they are objective, and part of the natural world.
- Moral non-naturalism: the view that there are ethical truths, they are objective, but that they are not part of the natural world.
- Constructivism: the view that there are ethical truths, but that they are not objective.
- Error theory: the view that there are no ethical truths.
- Expressivism: the view that ethical language and thought is not best understood as trying to represent ethical truths.
Some of the problems and questions we will investigate include:
The nature of ethical properties and facts, and their place in the world
The link between ethical judgements and motivational states like desires and intentions
The nature of our knowledge of ethical properties and facts: can we know about such things? How? Is it problematic to learn about ethical truths on the basis of what others tell us?Teaching Delivery: This module is delivered in weekly two-hour classes, which are a mixture of lecture and discussion. Students are expected to read the compulsory reading set each week and prepare for discussion in the seminars.
This module has historically been popular. If you try to register on this module, we would advise exploring additional options, just in case.By the end of the module, you should be able to:
Understand and explain the broadest aims and questions of contemporary metaethics.
Understand and explain the most popular contemporary metaethical theories and some prominent problems and questions investigated by contemporary philosophers in this area.
Philosophically evaluate and assess these theories and the answers given to these problems and questions, and understand what kinds of considerations are relevant to this assessment.
Understand and explain how these theories and questions, and their evaluation, connect with one another and with broader philosophical issues.Recommended Reading: In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library or online through UCL Library Services:
The International Encyclopedia for Ethics, ed. Hugh LaFollette, is a great resource for short introductory articles to topics. You could start by reading the article on metaethics, written by Jonas Olson. Other good articles include those on moral naturalism, non-naturalism, non-cognitivism, quasi-realism, and error theory.
Copp, David, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. Oxford University Press, 2007, chapters 1, 3, 4, 5.- PHIL0069 Ancient Theoretical Philosophy
Module Leader: Simona Aimar
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This course examines central aspects of Aristotle’s Theoretical Philosophy. This year we focus on Aristotle's Metaphysics Theta, where Aristotle accounts for his notion(s) of power (dunamis). We will roughly read one chapter per week, with the exception of weeks involving especially longer chapters. The course aims at reading closely at the texts but also clarifying the philosophical relevance thereof and connections with contemporary debates in metaphysics.
- PHIL0073 Feminism and Philosophy
Module Leader: Giulia Cavaliere
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: Feminism and Philosophy focuses on central topics in feminist philosophy, including the object of feminist theory and practice and the role of the concept of “woman” therein; the relationship between women’s biological capacities and gender-based oppression; the role of markets in regulating women’s reproductive labour; the concept of gender justice and the distribution of waged and unwaged labour; feminist perspectives on autonomy, beauty norms and gender-based oppression; sex and consent.
- PHIL0074 Recent work in Metaphysics
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This course focuses on causation and modality. But what are causation and modality? Causation is easy to introduce: it's about what it means to say that something causes something else. Modality might sound more obscure at first: yet it's about familiar notions too, the notions of possibility and necessity. The goal of our seminar is to figure out how these notions connect to one another. In order to find out whether something causes something else, we often tend to consider what could possibly or necessarily happen if a given event were to happen, or not to happen. To many, this suggests that there is a close relation between notions such as possibility, necessity and causation. But what relation exactly? In this course we will explore, formulate and assess several answers to this question.
- PHIL0075 20th Century Philosophy: Against Morality
Module Leader: John Hyman
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: In post-war Oxford, between the 1950s and the 1980s, a rebellion took shape against prevailing conceptions of morality, and eventually against morality itself. New methods and new approaches to thinking about morality were developed by philosophers including Anscombe, Austin, Foot, Hart, Murdoch, Strawson, Wiggins, and Williams. The main formative influences on this movement in philosophy, as on philosophy in Oxford generally in this period, were the anthropological philosophy of language developed by Wittgenstein in the 1930s and 1940s and the so-called ‘ordinary language’ approach to philosophy championed by J.L. Austin. But Aristotelian ethics, Thomist moral philosophy, and existentialism also fed into this radical movement. This course will examine key articles and chapters by these philosophers, including several of the following:
Austin, A plea for excuses (1957); Anscombe, Modern moral philosophy (1958); Foot, Moral beliefs (1959); Hart, The Concept of Law, ch. 8 (1961); Strawson, Social morality and individual ideal (1961); Murdoch, The idea of perfection (1964); Williams, Morality and the emotions (1965); Murdoch, The sovereignty of good over other concepts (1967); Foot, Morality as a system of hypothetical imperatives (1972); Wiggins, Truth, invention, and the meaning of life (1976); Anscombe: Medallist’s address: Action, Intention, and ‘double effect’ (1982); Foot, Morality, action and, outcome (1985); Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, ch. 10 (1985).
Background reading
Hacker, Wittgenstein’s Place in Twentieth-Century Analytical Philosophy, ch. 6
J.L. Austin, ‘A plea for excuses’
G.E.M. Anscombe, ‘Modern moral philosophy’- PHIL0077 Equality
Module Leader: Han van Wietmarschen
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: In everyday moral and political arguments appeals to equality are ubiquitous. But what do these appeals amount to? In this course we will attempt to gain a deeper understanding of equality in moral and political thought. The first part of the course will focus on the idea of moral equality. What grounds all human beings’ equal moral status? What does it even mean to say that all human beings are morally equal? Is the moral equality of all people consistent with our favourable treatment of our children, family, and friends? Are non-human animals morally equal to humans? In the second part of the course, we will focus on the idea of political equality. Specifically, we will consider what the equal status of all citizens implies about how we should distribute power and make political decisions. Does a commitment to the equality of all citizens commit us to democratic rule? If the political decisions made in Community A significantly affect the members of Community B, should the members of Community B have a (democratic?) say in Community A’s decision? Might this commit us to some form of global democracy?
- PHIL0087 Research Seminar in Legal Philosophy
Module Leader: Robert Simpson
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This module offers an introduction to contemporary legal philosophy. Each instance of the module will be centred around a recent philosophical monograph on a topic in legal philosophy. Topics may include punishment, human rights, constitutionalism / the rule of law, tort law / compensation, free speech, and general jurisprudence. A selection of classic and contemporary essays will be curated, which thematically dovetail with the central monograph, and which contextualise its arguments in the wider legal philosophical landscape. The teaching delivery will primarily involve exposition and critique of the texts, with an emphasis on group discussion. One meta-topic, which each instance of the module will address, is what exactly legal philosophy is. Is it just a sub-branch of moral and / or political philosophy? And if not, what kind of distinctive philosophical questions arise when we’re inquiring into the nature and functions of the law?
- PHIL0124 Political Philosophy (Iris Marion Young)
Module Leader: Lucy O’Brien
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: The seminar will be based on a set of key readings in political philosophy: a classic text, an important recent text, or a collection of articles. The texts will vary from year to year. For example one year the module covered the works of Iris Marion Young. Each student taking the module for credit will be expected to make a presentation. All students are expected to read a particular text each week and to contribute to the discussion, as well as complete a written assignment.
- PHIL0142 Research Preparation in Philosophy 1
Module Leader: TBC
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: N/A
Shared: MA Only
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This module will introduce UCL Philosophy Masters students to graduate study in philosophy and to philosophical discussion. Most of the sessions will involve reading in advance one or two pieces of analytic philosophy. Then in the seminar itself, each paper will be presented by a student for a discussion which is moderated by the convenor.
The topics covered in this module will generally vary from year to year depending on developments in academic research and the interests of the class and module leader. However the main skills covered will remain the same:
• Reading and understanding works of analytic philosophy
• Understanding philosophical argument and common strategies of argument and reasoning
• Understanding how to connect ideas within and between philosophical topics
• Beginning to understand how to pursue philosophical research.
Teaching Delivery
This module is delivered via a two-hour seminar once a week. Students will be expected to read the set reading each week, and each week one or two students will be asked to present one of the set readings for discussion. The schedule and exact format of the presentations will be discussed and arranged during the course itself.
This is a compulsory module for the MA programme in philosophy.
Enrolment on this module is restricted to students on the MA programme in philosophy.
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
• Understand the works read in the seminar and evaluate the ideas and arguments they contain.
• Understand how to read works in philosophy and make sense of the ideas and arguments they contain.
• Understand the style of philosophical arguments and know some common strategies of argument and reasoning
• Recognise connections between argument styles and philosophical topics where appropriate
• Use literature and other resources to embark on philosophical research.- PHIL0165 The Philosophy and Ethics of Climate Change
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: Climate change not only raises extremely important practical challenges, but a host of deep ethical and epistemic questions. The ethical questions you will study include the proper scope of moral concern (e.g., human centred versus biocentric views); individual and collective responsibilities to mitigate climate change; what we owe to future generations; and the permissibility of geoengineering.
You will also examine epistemic questions about the nature and status of evidence for climate change, including the epistemic status of climate change models, and which types of climate change scepticism are reasonable. Core skills focused on are those of philosophical reasoning and argumentation.
The module would be suitable for non-philosophy students with an existing interest or expertise in climate change, but such students may find it hard going at times.- PHIL0176 Meaning and Interpretation
Module Leader: José Zalabardo
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: On the standard conception of the place of linguistic meaning and mental content in the world, there are facts about what speakers mean by linguistic expressions and about what people believe and desire. Interpretation is the process by which we gain access to these facts—we use the evidence at our disposal to determine what people mean by what they say and the contents of their mental states. On this standard conception, facts about meaning and content are generated by connections between language and the mind, on the one hand, and the world, on the other. These facts do not depend in any way on the interpretative procedures by which we seek to discover them.
Since the last few decades of the 20th century, several philosophers have challenged this conception, arguing that facts about linguistic meaning and mental content are somehow produced by the procedures that we employ for ascribing meanings and contents. The goal of this module is to provide a general introduction to this approach. We will focus on the work of four of its main advocates: WVO Quine, Donal Davidson, Saul Kripke and Daniel Dennett.
Topics covered by the module will include:
1. Quine on the indeterminacy of translation
2. Davidson on truth, meaning and radical interpretation
3. Kripke’s interpretation of Wittgenstein’s rule-following considerations
4. Dennett on the intentional stance
Teaching Delivery: The module will be delivered by weekly two-hour lecture/seminars, combining presentation of material by the lecturer and general discussion of the ideas presented. You will be expected to do preparatory reading for each session and to be able to take part in seminar discussion.
By the end of the module:
1. You will have gained a deep understanding of the specific ideas put forward by the authors studied in this module.
2. You will be able to assess their proposals as well as their general approach in philosophical semantics, and to compare them to other major approaches to the subject.
3. You will have enhanced your interpretative skills regarding difficult philosophical texts.
4. You will have developed your ability to grasp and discuss highly abstract philosophical issues.Recommended Reading: In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:
• Gibson, Roger F. 1998. Radical translation and radical interpretation. https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/radical-translation-and-radical-interpretation/v-1
• Quine, Willard Van Orman. 1960. Word and Object. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, Chapter 2.
• Davidson, Donald. 1973. ""Radical Interpretation"". Dialectica 27:313-28.
• Dennett, Daniel C. 1987. ""True Believers"". In The Intentional Stance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Kripke, Saul. 1982. Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. Oxford: Blackwell.- PHIL0177 Recent Work in Moral Philosophy
Module Leader: Joe Horton
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This module provides students with an opportunity for deep engagement with recent work in moral philosophy. We cover five topics across the ten classes, with two classes on each topic.
These topics are likely to include:
***
Moral Aggregation
Is there any number of people you should save from a moderately large burden, such as paralysis, rather than saving one person from a very large burden, such as death? Is there any number of people you should save from a very small burden, such as a headache, rather than saving one person from a very large burden, such as death? Many people answer these questions ‘yes’ and ‘no’, respectively. Can this position be defended?
Indicative Reading: Alex Voorhoeve, ‘How Should We Aggregate Competing Claims?’, Ethics 125 (2014): 64–87
Collective Harm
Many of our choices collectively inflict grave harms on humans, animals, and the environment. Think of buying clothes from sweatshops, eating meat, or driving gas-guzzling cars. However, when considered individually, these choices seem to make extremely little difference to anyone, and they might even make no difference at all. This makes it difficult to explain why we ought not to make these choices. Is there a plausible explanation?
Indicative Reading: Julia Nefsky, ‘Fairness, Participation, and the Real Problem of Collective Harm’, Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics 5 (2015): 245–271
Moral Uncertainty
You have a slight preference for the burger, but the salad also sounds nice. You stare hard into the distance, wondering whether the vegetarians are right. You cannot decide—it seems just as likely they are right as that they are wrong. What should you do?
You give up on assessing vegetarianism and reason as follows: If the vegetarians are wrong, it is slightly better for you to choose the burger, for that is what you prefer. If they are right, it is much better for you to choose the salad, for choosing the burger would be morally very bad. So, taking both prudential and moral considerations into account, the expected value of the salad is greater than that of the burger. So, you should choose the salad.
Your reasoning seems plausible. But it assumes that what you should do is sensitive to your normative uncertainty—to your levels of confidence in competing normative theories. Is this assumption correct? What are its consequences?
Indicative Reading: William MacAskill and Toby Ord, 'Why Maximize Expected Choice-Worthiness?', Noûs 54 (2020): 327–353
***
The module is assessed by a summative essay which will focus on one of the topics covered. You will be strongly encouraged to write a formative essay (maximum length 2000 words), which will be due around the end of week 8. The formative essay is intended to serve as a draft of the summative, so it may answer the same question.
By the end of the module, you should have developed a good understanding of some of the debates at the cutting edge of moral philosophy and be able to explain these debate to others; have developed the skills needed to critically evaluate these debates; have developed your writing and communication skills, particularly with respect to clarity and structure; and have produced an essay that demonstrates these skills with respect to one of these debates.- PHIL0191 Advanced Topics in 17th and 18th Century European Philosophy
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This module focuses on problems and figures in 17th and 18th century European philosophy. This period was both fertile and influential. The rejection of old Aristotelian ways of thinking, along with dramatic developments in science, resulted in conceptual ferment and creativity. Moreover, the philosophical debates occurring in the period set the stage for many subsequent developments in the Kantian and post-Kantian tradition, as well as in much contemporary analytic philosophy. This module will take a deep dive into a single figure or topic in this period, which will vary from year to year. Sample figures include traditional figures like René Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, and Thomas Reid, as well as lesser known figures such as Margaret Cavendish, Ann Conway, Henry More, Pierre Bayle, and Mary Shepherd. Sample problems include sensory perception, colour, representation, embodiment, and the passions.- PHIL0194 Post-Kantian Continental Philosophy
Module Leader: Pavel Reichl
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: In 2025/26 this module will focus on how Post-Kantian Continental Philosophy, as it has been received in Latin America.
In this module, we will study 20th century Latin American philosophy, focussing on its historical development in critical dialogue with the European post-Kantian tradition. We will explore how key figures such as Enrique Dussel, Leopoldo Zea, or Santiago Castro-Gómez have appropriated work of philosophers including Hegel, Marx, and Levinas in their attempts to articulate an 'authentically' Latin American philosophical discourse. Our aims will be to develop an understanding of key 20th-century Latin American philosophers and to critically assess their positions on topics such as history, domination and liberation, and modernity.
- PHIL0196 Paradoxes
Module Leader: Andreas Ditter
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem Set 1 (15%); Problem Set 2 (15%); Essay 3000 words (70%)
Description: This module will be focused on paradoxes. A paradox is a set of jointly inconsistent claims each of which is individually plausible. Paradoxes are not merely entertaining puzzles; they also raise serious philosophical problems. In many cases, they lead us to rethink basic assumptions about some of our most fundamental concepts, including space, time, motion, truth, knowledge, and belief. In this module, we will examine several paradoxes and the philosophical issues they raise. Along the way, students will be introduced to some central conceptual and formal tools that are relevant not only to the paradoxes but also to a wide range of other philosophical debates.
Paradoxes to be discussed may include: Zeno’s paradoxes about space, time and motion; paradoxes of infinity (the Ross-Littlewood paradox, Benardete’s paradox); the Sorites paradox; logical and semantic paradoxes (Russell’s paradox and the Liar paradox); paradoxes of rationality (Newcomb’s problem, Prisoner’s Dilemma); paradoxes of belief and knowledge (the surprise examination paradox, the preface paradox, the lottery paradox); and paradoxes of personal identity, coincidence, time travel, and modal variation.
***Please note that the course combines philosophical and formal elements. A good knowledge of first-order (predicate) logic is presupposed.***- PHIL0201 Topics in Epistemology
Module Leader: Sam Carter
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: We are epistemically imperfect beings. Our access to the world is beset by noise, error, and inexactness. We navigate our lives using unreliable perceptual systems, deteriorating memories and incomplete information. As a result, there are many things we fail to know.
Fallibilists about knowledge advocate (qualified) hope: despite our flaws, there are nevertheless some (and perhaps many) things we can know. This course will explore the implications of our imperfections for our knowledge, within a broadly fallibilist setting. We’ll look at work on a variety of topics, unified by the idea that our epistemic flaws have important lessons for us about what we know (and what we fail to know). A recurring theme will be how our ignorance about the world can give rise to ignorance about what we know.
The authors we will read take a mixture of formal and informal approaches: the aim of the course is, in part, to provide an introduction to some useful technical machinery, while placing an emphasis on its philosophical interpretation.
Term 2
- PHIL0044 Aristotle's Moral Psychology
Module Leaders: Fiona Leigh and Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: The module focuses on Aristotle's philosophy of mind and moral psychology. After a brief introduction in the first week to the central tenets of his metaphysics and epistemology, the module will cover topics including Aristotle's views human nature and human flourishing, the kinds of cognitive capacities attributable to humans and non-human animals, the emotions, virtue ethics, the doctrine of the mean and learning to be good, weakness of the will, and vice. The central primary text will be the Nicomachean Ethics, although other texts will be consulted, notably de Anima. It is intended that students will learn to read passages from Aristotle’s works in ethics and psychology. They will develop the ability to evaluate the arguments proposed in the sources and to propose and assess different possible interpretations. They will be encouraged to reflect critically on the significance of the material. A sample syllabus, with the relevant primary texts, is as follows (selected secondary reading is also assigned each week):
Week 1
Introduction & metaphysics – overview of life and works, relation to Plato – and Aristotle’s metaphysics: hylomorphism, substance, the four causes, body and soul
Primary Text: Metaphysics, VII.1-4, 6, 10-11, 13, 15, 17; Physics II.1-9; III.1-3, VIII.6; de Anima, book 1.1, 1.4
Week 2
The soul & cognition
Primary Text: de Anima, books I-III, and (optional) de Motu Animalium, 6-11
Week 3
Phantasia & emotion
Primary Text: Rhetoric book II.1-10; de Anima, book III.3
Week 4
Understanding the ‘doctrine’ of the mean
Primary Text: Nicomachean Ethics, books II-III (especially II.1-9, III.5-12)
Week 5
The mean ‘relative to us’
Primary Text: Nicomachean Ethics, books II-III (especially II.1-9, III.5-12)
Week 6
The structure of habituation
Primary Text: Nicomachean Ethics, I.13, II.1-4
Week 7
Habituation & action
Primary Text: (the same as for week 6) Nicomachean Ethics, I.13, II.1-4
Week 8
Virtue and Akrasia (weakness of the will)
Primary Text: Nicomachean Ethics, Nicomachean Ethics, VII.1-10
Week 9
Vice and moral conflict
Primary Text: Nicomachean Ethics, III. 2-5, 10-12, VII.7-8 (already read in week 8), IX.4
Week 10
Vice as a unified psychological state
Primary Text: (mostly the same as for week 9) Nicomachean Ethics, III. 2-5, 10-2, VII.7-8, IX.4- PHIL0052 Regulation of Intimacy
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This optional course will be taught in seminar format, with one weekly two-hour meeting. It is designed to introduce students to some central questions in political and moral philosophy. The topic of the course is the politics of sex. It focuses on general ethical concerns raised by state regulation of intimate relations e.g. in marriage or prostitution. Should some things not be for sale? Is consent the key to legitimate interaction? What is involved in one person ‘objectifying’ another? Are there circumstances in which paternalism is permissible or even required?
Readings include Anderson, Herman, Langton, Nussbaum, Pallikkathayil, Parfit, O’Neill, Satz, Saul, Scanlon, Scruton, Shiffrin, Thomson, Wedgwood.
This course is intended for students with a range of specializations, but some background knowledge in philosophy (normally a minimum of two philosophy courses passed before taking this module).
The course is not suitable for conversion students.- PHIL0067 Free Speech and Theories of Autonomy
Module Leader: Rob Simpson
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This module investigates two complementary topics: (1) theories of autonomy, as they have been developed by philosophers writing about ethics and the self, and (2) defences of free speech, as they have been developed (and criticised) by legal and political theorists. With respect to (1), we’re interested in what it means to be autonomous, how and why the process of desire-formation has a bearing on a person’s autonomy, and whether it is possible for someone to autonomous desire their own subordination. With respect to (2), we’re interested in what kind of conception of autonomy – and of the individual, as such – different theorists have invoked in seeking to defend free speech, and what kinds of theoretical justifications for free speech can be developed in light of different conceptions of autonomy. The insights into the nature of autonomy that we gain from thinking about the topics in part (1), will inform the critical inquiry that we carry out in part (2).
Assessment is via a major essay, and there will usually be some kind of minor, reading-related tasks that you’re required to complete during the term. Classes are a mixture of lectures, small-group discussion, and whole group discussion.
Representative examples of readings that we look at during the course are John Christman, “Autonomy and personal history” (Canadian Journal of Philosophy 21/1, 1991, pp. 1-24), and Susan Brison, “The autonomy defense of free speech” (Ethics 108/2, 1998, pp./ 312-39).
- PHIL0078 Formal Epistemology
Module Leader: Clara Bradley
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem set 1 (15%) Problem set 2 (15%) Essay, 2500 Words (70%)
Description: This module will introduce the probabilistic representation of belief and its connection to rationality, evidence, and decision-making. Some of the questions that will be covered include: What are degrees of belief? What are the constraints on degrees of belief, and why should we believe that these constraints are rationally required? How are degrees of belief related to action? Can probabilistic reasoning help to solve problems of induction and confirmation?
While there are no formal prerequisites, the module presupposes that students have an understanding of introductory logic and will be required as part of the module to do basic mathematical proofs.
The primary texts for this module are:
Titelbaum, Michael (2022), Fundamentals of Bayesian Epistemology Volumes I and II.
Provisional Syllabus:
Week 1: Full vs. partial belief
Week 2: Axioms and rules of probability
Week 3: Conditionalization
Week 4: Priors and interpretations of probability
Week 5: Confirmation and induction
Week 6: Decision theory I
Week 7: Decision theory II
Week 8: Dutch book arguments and representation theorems
Week 9: Accuracy arguments
Week 10: Further problems for bayesianism- PHIL0079 Advanced Topics on Moral Philosophy: Responsibility, Luck and Excuses
Module Leader: Ulrike Heuer
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: We will explore theories of responsibility, in particular their explanations of its grounds, its scope and its limits. We will also discuss some fundamental skeptical challenges to the practice of holding ourselves and others responsible. In light of these general considerations, we will then examine more specific topics, such as responsibility for attitudes, moral luck, blameworthiness, excuses and collective responsibility.
The aim of the module is to develop an understanding of the nature of responsibility, and the resources and problems of contemporary approaches.
Introductory readings:
• R. Jay Wallace, Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press 1996.
• Susan Wolf, Freedom Within Reason, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1990.
• Daniel Statman (ed), Moral Luck, SUNY Press 1993- PHIL0086 Reasons and Normativity
Module Leader: Ulrike Heuer
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: We will discuss work-in-progress by and with philosophers working on the nature of practical reasons, the explanation of normativity, and related topics in theoretical ethics. We will meet in one week to discuss an author’s work-in-progress among ourselves and then discuss it with the author themself in the following week. The discussion with the author will be based on questions that each student must submit in writing after our preliminary, first discussion of the author’s work. A list of the invited philosophers will be available in August 2025.- PHIL0097 Graduate Studies in Kant
Module Leader: Pavel Reichl
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: Kant famously imposed strict limits on reason's capacity for knowledge. At the same time, he maintained that human progress depends on individuals' ability to use reason. In this module, we will seek to answer the question: given the critical limits to reason, what role is left for it in philosophical enquiry? Drawing on the first and second Critiques as well as shorter writings, we will look at the following topics: Kant’s conception of theoretical reason in its constitutive vs. its regulative use, the nature of practical reason and its ability to answer the traditional questions of metaphysics, and the relation between the practical and the theoretical, alongside related themes.
- PHIL0103 Research Seminar: Philosophy of Mind
Module Leader: Lucy O’Brien
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This advanced module is a research seminar in the philosophy of mind. The module teacher will present some of their recent research. Subject matter can vary year by year, but might include: mental states and events, mental actions, the mind-body problem, consciousness, intentionality, mental causation etc.- PHIL0129 Worlds, Sentences and Measures
Module Leader: Peter Fritz
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem sets
Description: This module gives an introduction to some of the formal tools most often used in contemporary philosophy, focusing in particular on modal logic. Modal logic concerns the logic of intensional notions such as necessity and possibility, obligation and permission, knowledge and belief, tense and other temporal constructions. Studying such logics is particularly interesting for philosophers since such intensional notions are central for many philosophical debates, e.g., in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of language.
The expected background for this module is propositional and predicate logic as it is covered in a standard introduction to formal logic. This includes familiarity with the languages of propositional and predicate logic, formalization of informal arguments in these languages, evaluating propositional formulas using truth tables, evaluating formulas of predicate logic using models, model-theoretic notions such as validity and consequence, some form of proof system, and corresponding proof-theoretic notions such as provability and consistency. A main component of the module is regular problem sets.- PHIL0143 Research Preparation in Philosophy 2
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A/B/C
Shared: MA Only
Assessment: Essay 4,000 words
Description: This module is a continuation and extension of PHIL0142. This module has two aims: (1) to train you in reading difficult philosophical texts (2) to train you in the skills involved in philosophical discussion.
Indicative Topics
The specific topics covered in the module will vary with the choice of philosophical papers.
Teaching Delivery
Teaching will consist in a weekly two-hour seminar. Discussion of the text will be organized around student presentations.- PHIL0160 Philosophy of Space and Time
Module Leader: Clara Bradley
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This module covers topics in the epistemology and metaphysics of space and time: How does one gain empirical access to spacetime? What is the relationship between motion and spacetime? Is spacetime substantival or relational? Is geometry conventional? We will look at these topics through a historical lens, starting with views about space and time in Ancient Greece and ending with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
There are no formal prerequisites for this module. Students without mathematics or physics backgrounds can thrive in this module, however, you should be prepared to spend some time learning new mathematics and physics.
The primary texts for this module are:
Huggett, Nick (1999), Space From Zeno to Einstein.
Maudlin, Tim (2012), Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time
Provisional Syllabus:
Week 1: Zeno’s paradoxes
Week 2: The Aristotelian conception
Week 3: Descartes’ physics
Week 4: Newtonian physics
Week 5: The Leibniz-Clarke debate
Week 6: Substantivalism vs. relationalism: modern approaches
Week 7: Ether theories to special relativity
Week 8: Special relativity II
Week 9: Conventionalism about geometry
Week 10: General Relativity- PHIL0167 Perception and its History
Module Leader: Mark Kalderon
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: The advanced course will involve a close reading of a historical text on the nature of perception. A different text will be chosen each time the course is offered. Contemporary philosophy of perception is very different from earlier historical discussions, especially in the pre-modern era. This is not due solely to advances in psychology, but the kind of questions that are asked are often very different. Part of the point of engaging in these texts is to bracket our own presuppositions about the nature of perception so as to become critically conscious of them. Sometimes these may be reaffirmed. Sometimes, however, they may be called into doubt. The student will gain an in depth understanding of the text under study, learn about close readings and historical scholarship, and hopefully gain a new perspective on the nature of perception.
Indicative Topics
The topics covered in the module will vary with the historical text under discussion.
Teaching Delivery
Teaching will consist in a weekly two-hour seminar.
Assessment
This module will be assessed by essay. No paper topic will be assigned. Instead you must meet individually with the instructor after reading week to discuss your potential paper topic and receive guidance concerning it.- PHIL0178 Research Seminar in Realism and Antirealism
Module Leader: José Zalabardo
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)General subject matter of the seminar
In very general terms, the realism/antirealism debate concerns the status of the following thought:
(A) How things stand in the world is, in many respects, independent of us,
and yet
(B) we can gain cognitive access to how things stand in the world;
that is,
(B1) we can represent things in thought and language as being a certain way, which may or may not coincide with how things are
and
(B2) some of these representations can achieve the status of knowledge—we can know that things are as we represent them as being.
The debate arises from a perceived tension between A and B—from arguments to the effect that representation or knowledge are only possible if the independence of the world is abandoned or qualified. Antirealists invoke these arguments to support positions on which reality is somehow dependent on us. Realists maintain that these arguments fail to undermine the independence of the world.
These debates have adopted a wide variety of shapes. The general goal of this seminar is to study specific manifestations of the issue.
The 2025-26 Edition. Realism and Scepticism
This year’s seminar will look at how the problem of scepticism affects the realism/antirealism debate.
Some background reading:
Stroud, Barry. 1994. ""Scepticism, 'Externalism', and the Goal of Epistemology"". Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 68:291-307.
Stroud, Barry. 1989. ""Understanding Human Knowledge in General"". In Knowledge and Scepticism, edited by M. Clay and K. Lehrer. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 31-50.
Sosa, Ernest. 1994. ""Philosophical Scepticism and Epistemic Circularity"". Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 68:263-290.
Fumerton, Richard. 2006. ""Epistemic Internalism, Philosophical Assurance and the Skeptical Predicament"". In Knowledge and Reality, edited by T. M. Crisp, M. Davidson and D. Vander Laan. Dordrecht: Springer.- PHIL0184 Philosophy of Arithmetic & Incompleteness
Module Leader: Tim Button
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Worksheet 1 (15%); Worksheet 2 (15%); Worksheet 3 (20%); Essay, 2500 Words (50%)
Description: Arithmetic is the branch of mathematics which studies the natural numbers — i.e. the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on — and operations on the numbers — like addition and multiplication. This course explores the features that make arithmetic distinctive, and pose unique philosophical challenges. The path through the course is as follows.
1. Arithmetic is infinitary, abstract, a priori and apodictic, necessary, completely general, and scientifically indispensable. You will start by surveying these features, and encounter the general idea of a formal theory of arithmetic.
2. A common sentiment is that, in mathematics, consistency suffices for existence. You will explore this idea, understanding what it means to describe a theory as "consistent", and how one might establish consistency. This will lead into into a discussion of Hilbert's programme, which aimed to provide proofs that (various) mathematical theories are consistent. Famously, this programme floundered when Gödel discovered his incompleteness theorems.
3. You will learn about the technical details behind the incompleteness theorems, including such concepts as: (computable) enumerability, representability, the arithmetization of syntax, Tarski's Diagonal Lemma, Gödel sentences, and consistency sentences.
4. Armed with this technical knowledge, you will assess the philosophical significance of these results, both for Hilbert's programme and for other philosophical positions.
5. To finish the course, you will consider other approaches to the philosophy of arithmetic, and how they deal with the phenomenon of incompleteness.
The course will be based entirely weekly lectures, backed up with classes. Each lecture/class will have compulsory readings.
Please note that the course combines philosophical and formal elements! Although it is not a formal prerequisite, the course will presuppose introductory logic (at the level of first year Introduction to Logic 1 & 2); at the very least, you will need to be comfortable with how first-order logic works. The course will not presuppose any particular prior knowledge of mathematics; only that you know how to count, and can make sense of expressions like ‘x2 + 3x + 2 = 0’ (even if you cannot quite remember how to solve it). Still, if the very idea of looking at an expression like that fills you with horror, this course is not for you. Half of your final grade will be based on your performance in problem sets, which will help to reinforce your understanding of the technical details behind the incompleteness theorems.- PHIL0188 Problems in Theoretical Ethics
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: Many current philosophical discussions, both in practical and theoretical philosophy, centre around the explanation of normativity. In this module we will focus primarily on practical normativity, starting with the crucial concept of a normative reason and then look into a number of different topics, such as:
(i) Values and reasons
(ii) Reasons for attitudes and the wrong kind of reasons
(iii) Normative powers and voluntary obligations- PHIL0190 Recent Work in Practical Philosophy
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: A graduate level research seminar exploring some important recent work in practical philosophy. Topics and texts may differ from year to year.
- PHIL0192 Historical Texts in Metaphysics
Module Leader: To Be Confirmed
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: Historical Texts in Metaphysics gives students an opportunity to study intensively and in depth one major text in metaphysics / theoretical philosophy, on the same model as 'Historical Texts in Political Philosophy' and 'Greek Philosophical Texts'. The particular text studied will vary by year. The course will presuppose a general philosophical background and some knowledge of the history of philosophy, but not specific knowledge of any one thinker, period, or school. Typically the texts chosen will have a comprehensive systematic ambition, and the focus of the course will be on the understanding, interpretation, and critical evaluation of the work. Here are some examples of Early & Late Modern works that might be selected: Spinoza's Ethics, Leibniz's New Essays, Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript, Heidegger's Being and Time, etc.- PHIL0202 The Dynamics of Social Change
Module Leader: James Wilson
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This module provides an in-depth examination of philosophical questions in the epistemology and ontology of social change. Each week will combine the study of one or more key theoretical concepts, with relevant real-world case studies. Precise topics to be studied will change from year to year, but an indicative selection of topics that could be discussed in the module would be:
1. Mechanistic explanations and social change
2. Structural explanations and individual agency
3. Wicked and super-wicked problems
4. Social norms, and their role in explanations of social change
5. Complex systems approaches to public policy
6. Self-fulfilling prophecies and looping concepts
7. Power, knowledge and social reality I: understanding power
8. Power, knowledge and social reality II: epistemic injustice
9. Agenda setting in democratic decision-making
10. The role of the role of scientific expertise in democratic decision-making
11. Evidence and public policy I: What should we measure, and how?
12. Evidence and public policy II: Replication, scaling up and external validity- PHIL0203 Changing the World: The philosophy of social and Political Transformation
Module Leader: Shai Agmon
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin' And you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'
(Bob Dylan.)
This course addresses one of the most fundamental aspirations in politics: changing the world for the better. Social activists, journalists, politicians, policymakers, and social movements all share the desire to make a difference and to drive meaningful change.
However, the question of how change should be pursued is far from obvious. This course examines this normative challenge, inviting students to engage with key questions such as: When acting for change, should we aim for an ideal society or focus on what is feasible in the present? What constitutes political power, and how can we discern which changes are achievable? Should we advocate for revolution or incremental reforms? Should we pursue change through electoral politics, social movements, courts, or by altering social norms and culture? Should we aim for change as a result of intentional collective action or through the spontaneous order arising from individual actions? Should we try to change from within by making our voices heard, or by leaving the group?
Examining these philosophical debates will engage us with some of the most important and enduring problems in contemporary politics. Throughout the course, we will bridge abstract philosophical discussions with a series of concrete, real-world examples.
Pre-requisites: There are no formal prerequisites for this module, but it is a shared course for third-year undergraduates and master's students. Therefore, some background in political philosophy is assumed, such as the content covered in the first-year module, PHIL0007 Introduction to Political Philosophy. Familiarity with key concepts, theories, and debates in political philosophy will be beneficial for engaging with the course material. Teaching delivery: The course consists of 2 hours per week: a 1-hour lecture and a 1-hour seminar. The lecture will cover key concepts, and the seminar will allow for discussion and deeper analysis. You will be expected to do preparatory reading for each session and to be able to take part in seminar discussion.
By the end of the module:
You will explore and evaluate key theories of political and social transformation, engaging with normative debates on power, collective action, spontaneous social order, compromise, revolution, institutional mechanisms for change, and more. You will be able to apply philosophical insights to contemporary political debates such as climate change, housing segregation, abortion, judicial activism, Brexit, and more. You will be able to articulate your views and present them in an analytical, rigorous, and philosophically informed manner. You will have developed your ability to normatively assess arguments presented in texts, case studies, and real-world scenarios, identifying logical fallacies, inconsistencies, and biases in reasoning.
- PHIL0206 Philosophy and Public Affairs
Module Leader: Giulia Cavaliere
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: Love, friendship, parenthood and public policy.
This module explores fundamental questions in moral and political philosophy that shape both private and public life, examining the intersection between the two.
The first half of the module focuses on intimate relationships and the role of law and public policy in regulating them. While we often consider relationships—whether between parents and children, romantic partners, or friends—to be deeply personal matters, the state frequently intervenes through legal and policy frameworks. To what extent should it be allowed to do so? What are the limits of permissible interference in private relationships? While such regulations can promote well-being and social flourishing, they can also come into tension with other important values. Drawing on scholarship in moral and political philosophy, this module provides students with analytical tools to assess these trade-offs and critically evaluate different policy approaches.
The second half of the module turns to the philosophy of love broadly constructed, with an emphasis on moral and political aspects of relationships such as romantic love, sex, friendship, and parenthood. How do love and morality intersect? What obligations, if any, arise from friendships or romantic commitments? What are justified reasons for ending a relationship? Are there ethical objections to polyamory? As contemporary relationship structures evolve—through new parenting models, non-traditional partnerships, and alternative friendship arrangements—this module examines the philosophical implications of these shifts. Students will engage with both conceptual questions about the nature of these relationships and normative discussions concerning the rights, duties, and interests of those involved.
By the end of the module, students will have developed a deeper understanding of the philosophical foundations of private and public life. Through interactive, discussion-based seminars, they will also sharpen their critical thinking, practical reasoning, and argumentative skills, equipping them to engage thoughtfully with pressing ethical and political issues.- PHIL0208 Later Wittgenstein
Module Leader: John Hyman
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)Description: This course will consist in a close reading of the main passage in Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations devoted to the philosophy of mind: §§243-315. The topics discussed in this passage include the privacy of the mind, the ownership of mental states, our knowledge of our own and others’ mental states, our expression and communication of our mental states, and the impossibility of private language. We may in addition discuss other passages and topics in Wittgenstein’s post-1929 writings relating to action, expression and causation.
Set text: L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
Background reading: Severin Schroeder, Wittgenstein: The Way Out of the Fly-Bottle;
P.M.S. Hacker, Wittgenstein’s Place in Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy, chs.1-5, espec. ch.5.
- PHIL0209 Justice & Inequality: Rawls's Theory of Justice
Module Leader: Véronique Munoz-Dardé
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)
Description: This module will introduce grad students to Rawls’s A Theory of Justice. Political thought remains focused on questions of injustice and inequality. In the era of civil rights, the key theoretical text on these questions came to be written and published: John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. The purpose of the course is to present and assess Rawls’s seminal book in its entirety, as a single project, placing it in wider historical and ethical context. Students will also familiarise themselves with current philosophical work on equality and inequalities inspired by, or critical of Rawls’s egalitarianism.