Philosophical propaedeutics 2: Methodological introduction to philosophy and exercises [ LFILO1160 ]

Introduction to philosophical problems and methodology.

To give the students a better understanding of the nature of philosophical inquiry and its methods by addressing some of the key concepts of philosophy and thus furnishing the students with the main tools with which to work in the discipline.

There is no examination for this course : the mark for vol. 1 is calculated on the basis of the average of work done during the semester.

The final mark is awarded on the basis of the results from volume 1 (course) and volume 2 (exercises) in the following way :
Where one or both parts have been failed, the global mark is the weaker of the two.
Where both parts have been passed, the global mark is calculated according to an 80 (vol.1) / 20 (vol.2) weighting.

There will be weekly alternation between reading skills and drafting skills.  Course materials (texts for summary or comprehension) will be available on iCampus In each case, students are required to do work at home (and some in class) which will be marked and then discussed with as much individual supervision as possible.

In all cases, we will work on short texts from the literature or recent publications, although the main point is to develop methods of working ; the philosophical interpretation of texts and setting them in their historical context will certainly be covered, but not as the primary focus. Texts of a very different kind and from different periods will be studied. However, they will primarily be  considered as an aid to a methodological approach.

Aids : documents on iCampus and a collection of texts