Methodological introduction to philosophy [ LFILO1160 ]

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The introduction to the main issues and methods of philosophy aims to distinguish between the different philosophical disciplines: ontology, epistemology, ethic, anthropology etc. and the fundamental options which emerge such as monism and dualism, rationalism and empiricism, materialism and idealism, formalism and utilitarianism etc. The distinction between methods of philosophy highlights the importance of major concepts e.g. dialectic, transcendental. There will be a focus on methodological options in contemporary philosophy: phenomenology, hermeneutics, analytic philosophy etc.

The aim of this course is the acquisition of a kind of « encyclopaedic » knowledge of the nature and methods of philosophy. By the end, students will have precise understanding of the main philosophical concepts and their systematic linking.

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

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.

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Aids : documents on iCampus and a collection of texts