Global Opportunities

PHI3020 : Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Semesters
Semester 1 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 5.0

Aims

This module introduces students to the way in which psychoanalysis as a theory and praxis of the unconscious has profoundly influenced modern and contemporary philosophy as well as the human and social sciences at large. It will explore psychoanalytic approaches to notions such as desire, power, knowledge, truth, love, and identification with a particular focus on their application to socio-political, epistemological, and ontological debates.

Outline Of Syllabus

Material covered may include, but is not limited to:
-       Freudian psychoanalysis
-       Lacanian psychoanalysis
-       Philosophical and psychoanalytic accounts of desire
-       Philosophical and psychoanalytic accounts of knowledge
-       Philosophical and psychoanalytic accounts of power
-       Freudo-Marxism
-       Foucault and psychoanalysis
-       Deleuze & Guattari and psychoanalysis
-       Badiou and psychoanalysis
-       Psychoanalysis and Feminism

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion120:0020:00Essay preparation and completion
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture101:0010:00N/A
Structured Guided LearningStructured research and reading activities101:0010:00Specific research or reading activities developed and directed by academic staff
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching101:0010:00Tutorials
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study150:0050:00Review lecture material, prepare for small group teaching and assessment
Total100:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The lectures will provide essential subject-specific knowledge on a range of seminal thinkers and ideas. Seminars permit discussion of the relative merits of these thinkers and ideas and guide independent analysis, interpretation, and critique.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay1A1002000 word essay
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Students will be assessed by a 2000-word essay and will be able to choose from a range of essay questions. The essay tests the ability to think analytically, creatively, self-critically and independently as well as managing one’s own work to set time limits. This assessment method also gauges the students’ ability to move between generalisation and appropriately detailed discussion, to cite relevant texts and interpret them adequately, to discover examples in support of or to challenge a position, and to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant considerations.

Reading Lists

Timetable