Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

We tend to equate the discipline of Philosophy with European, Western Philosophy. By contrast, this module seeks to disrupt that equation and to show that there are a number of significant philosophical traditions both older than Western modes of thinking and of intellectually broader span. This module aims to introduce students to salient issues and perspectives in world philosophies and to broaden their intellectual horizons beyond the Eurocentric thinking of Western Philosophy. This module thereby aims to disrupt our cultural and intellectual assumptions about the world and thus to go towards decolonising the curriculum. We will look at themes from the ontologies, metaphysics, epistemologies, ethics and aesthetics from non-Western perspectives, such as African/Africana, Asian, Islamic, and Latin-American thought.

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics on this module could include, but are not limited to:
-       African/Africana philosophy
-       Philosophies of Asia
-       Philosophy in the Islamic World
-       Latin-American Philosophy

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

-       Gain an understanding of non-Western philosophical ideas and approaches
-       Recognise the importance and relevance of non-Western ideas to the history of philosophy
-       Understand the cultural differences when considering terms such as ontology, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics

Intended Skill Outcomes

-       Gain a critical understanding of diverse philosophical worldviews
-       Be able to compare and contrast different schools of thought
-       Engage critically and sensitively with key texts from different schools of thought and cultures

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures provide students with a systematic account of the concepts and ideas of the traditions under discussion and their relation to key aspects of philosophy, e.g., ontology or metaphysics. Students are given a structured reading list, a set of lecture notes with seminar questions, supported by references to secondary works in order to develop the interpretative, logical and analytical skills required for good argument.

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 essays test 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 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.

General Notes

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