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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Self-Knowledge |
| Unit code |
PHIL30093 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Doyle |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit will explore in detail the central issues pertaining to self-knowledge: in particular, the kinds of knowledge about oneself (certain of one’s beliefs and sensations, the position of one’s limbs) that seem to be gained without observation. Issues to be covered will typically include: the semantics of the relevant self-ascriptions, conceptions of introspection, the idea that such self-ascriptions are immune to error and Wittgenstein’s seeming critique of this idea, ‘expressivist’, ‘self-validating’ and other conceptions of such self-ascriptions, and the implications of accounts of self-knowledge for broader issues about the nature of mind.
The aims of the unit are:
- to familiarise students with the central philosophical problems arising in connection with non-observational self-knowledge
- to develop their analytical and dialectical skills in working on these problems
- to develop their communicative skills in oral and written presentation
- to enable them to make illuminating connections with related issues they may have studied in the philosophy of mind, epistemology and/or logic
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
- have a comprehensive understanding of the central issues arising in connection with non-observational self-knowledge
- have gained a critical understanding of some of the main positions in the relevant debates
- have had the opportunity to develop their analytical and dialectical skills,
- have had the opportunity to develop their skills in oral and written communication, in making seminar presentations, in taking part in seminar discussions, and in writing an essay.
Teaching Information
A 1 hour lecture each week + 1 hour seminar each week.
Assessment Information
Formative assessment will be by one 2,500 word essay.
Summative assessment will be by summer exam.
Reading and References
- G Evans, The Varieties of Reference
- D Finkelstein, Expression and the Inner
- G Frege, “The Thought”
- D Lewis, “Attitudes de dicto and de se”
- R Moran, Authority and Estrangement
- L Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
