University of the West of England

MODULE SPECIFICATION

(Revised October 2005)

Code: UPZPMA-30-2 Title: Metaphysics: Being, Appearance and Reality Version: 3

Level: 2 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15

Module type: Standard

Owning Faculty: HLSS Field: Philosophy

Valid from: September 2007 Discontinued from:

Contributes towards: Awards up to BA/BSC(Hons)

Pre-requisites: UPZPAA-30-1 - Introduction to Philosophical Studies I: Theoretical Philosophy or equivalent

Co-requisites: None

Excluded combinations: None

Learning outcomes:

On completion of this module students should normally be able to demonstrate:

• a critical understanding of the nature of metaphysical inquiry;

• an advanced level of philosophical skill;

• the ability to locate, analyse and criticise the metaphysical assumptions underlying a given theoretical position;

• an understanding of the context and relevance of metaphysics in diverse fields of inquiry.

All of the above are assessed through all components and elements of assessment.

Syllabus outline:

Reality and appearance; being and existents; being and becoming; truth and illusion; connectivity and correlation; the universal and the particular; necessity and contingency; the nature of theory; art and metaphysics; politics and metaphysics; science and metaphysics; realism and idealism; system and experience.

Teaching and learning methods:

Teaching will be by lecture and seminar, with lectures outlining the core problems and seminars providing an environment for students to broaden their understanding of the problems. Students will be encouraged to take an active role in the latter through weekly presentations, aiding in the development of core argumentative, communicational and analytical skills. Students will be further encouraged to discover new contexts for the problems under discussion and bring materials to seminars in order to demonstrate these problems at work.

Reading Strategy:

Essential reading will be provided electronically or as printed study packs. Students will be encouraged to read widely using the library catalogue, a variety of bibliographic and full text databases, and Internet resources. Guidance to some key authors and journal titles available through the Library will be given on UWEonline. It is expected that assignment bibliographies and reference lists will reflect the range of reading carried out.

It is important that students can identify and retrieve appropriate reading. This module offers an opportunity to further develop information skills introduced at Level 1

There are some excellent books published in this subject area. Students will be encouraged to buy at least one book. A list of recommended titles will be provided in the Module Handbook and updated annually.

Indicative Reading List:

The following list is offered to provide validation panels/accrediting bodies with an indication of the type and level of information students may be expected to consult. As such, its currency may wane during the life span of the module specification. However, as indicated above, CURRENT advice on readings will be available via other more frequently updated mechanisms.

Indicative sources:

Aristotle	Metaphysics (Penguin)
Ernst Behler ed.	German Idealist Philosophy (Penguin)
Henri Bergson	An introduction to Metaphysics (Hackett 1998)
	Creative Evolution (Hackett 1997)
Douglas Burnham	An Introduction to Kant’s Critique of Judgement (Edinburgh University Press 2001)
John Cottingham ed.	Western Philosophy (Blackwell 1999)
Gilles Deleuze	‘Plato and the Simulacrum’ in The Logic of Sense (Athlone 1995)
Depew & Weber	Darwinism Evolving (MIT 1996)
Thomas L Hankins	Science in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge University Press 1985)
Hegel	Logic (Oxford University Press 1972)
Martin Heidegger	Introduction to Metaphysics (Yale 1959)
Jaegwon Kim & Ernest Sosa	A Companion to Metaphysics (Routledge 1998)
C R G Mure	Hegel (Oxford University Press 1962)
Nietzsche	Twilight of the Idols (Penguin1982)
Plato	Republic (Penguin)
Ilya Prigogine & Isabella Stengers	Order out of Chaos (Flamingo 1985)
Roger Scruton	Kant (Oxford University Press 1982)

Assessment

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules only) A: 50% B: 50%

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. 2,000 word essay 20%

2. 3000 word essay 30%

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay (5000 words) 50%

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT Attendance at taught classes is not required.

Specification confirmed by …………………………………………………Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)