Modern Self as Subject (AP9179P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

Can my experience of myself be trusted as what is finally real? Or is this experience just another obstacle to knowing things as they are? This unit explores the modern project, beginning with Descartes, and continuing through Hume and Kant, to place the knowing self at the centre of existence. At this postgraduate level, the legacy for our time of the modern notion of subjectivity will be afforded additional philosophical reflection.

Unit code: AP9179P

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Delivery Mode: Online

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

Show when this unit is running

Learning outcomes

1.

Demonstrate a grasp of Aristotle's notion of “the subject”, as that relates to "substance" and continues into medieval philosophy
2.

Grasp insights and analyse arguments by which the Aristotelian substantial subject evolves into the modern “self” (with Descartes, Hume and Kant
3.

Integrate the above knowledge with other philosophical concepts and distinctions (epistemology vs. ontology, soul vs. body, mind vs. matter, freedom vs. necessity, human vs. animal, rationalism vs. empiricism).
4.

Develop a sustained argument for or against a particular philosophical account of subjectivity, in terms of its internal coherence and/or consistency with lived experience.

5.

Reflect at meta-level on the legacy afforded our own time by the above approaches to locating "subjectivity

Unit sequence

undergraduate philosophical studies, or comparable literary or cultural studies.

Pedagogy

Lectures and Tutorials; Online module with guided online discussion fora.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Ayer, A.J. Hume. Oxford: OUP, 1980.
  • Descartes, René. “Discourse on Method”and “The Meditations.” Trans. and introd. F.E. Sutcliffe. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth:Penguin Books, 1968. (recommended for purchase)
  • Hume, David. A Treatise on Human Nature. Introd. Ernest C. Mossner. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1969. (recommended for purchase)
  • Guyer, Paul, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Trans. and ed. Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  • Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001. (recommended for purchase)
  • Robinson, David, and C. Garratt. Introducing Descartes. Cambridge: Icon Books, 1999. [** A book sought in the “Introducing --------” Series (Introducing Kant, Introducing Descartes, etc.) can often be found under the alternative title “-------- for Beginners” (Kant for Beginners, Descartes for Beginners, etc.), and vice versa.
  • Schacht, R. Classical Modern philosophers: Descartes to Kant. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984. (recommended for purchase)
  • Snell, R.J., and Steven F. McGuire, eds. Subjectivity: Ancient and Modern. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016.
  • Uleman, Jennifer K. An Introduction to Kant’s Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Want, Christopher and Andrzej Klimowski. Introducing Kant. Cambridge: Icon Books, 1999.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

Essay 2 (2400 words), following prior online posting and leadership of discussion of draft essay*.

*Online posting of discussion-amenable draft, together with itemised, well-chosen, points of discussion, and leadership /stimulation of subsequent online discussion, to be assessed (40% of assessment for this essay); followed by submission of the written-up essay, assessed as a written piece of work (60%).

 0 40.0
Essay

Essay 1 (2400 words)

 0 40.0
Essay

Generalised Online Participation (1200 words)

 0 20.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 1 Jan, 2012

Unit record last updated: 2022-10-04 13:37:29 +1100