Philosophy of History from Kant to Foucault
Course details
- Code
- O23P755PHW
- Fees
- From £257.00
- Credit
- 10 CATS points
- Dates
- Thu 21 Sep 2023 - Thu 30 Nov 2023
- Time
- 3:00-4:00pm
- Location
- Online
- Contact
- weeklyclasses@conted.ox.ac.uk
- +44(0)1865 280900
- Application status
- Course ended
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This is an Online course which requires your attendance to weekly meetings which take place online using Microsoft Teams meetings.
This short course will combine pre-recorded lectures with live, weekly, online meetings where discussion and debate will take place between students and the tutor. Visit our How our WOW courses work page for full details.
This course will close for enrolment 7 days prior to its start date.
Overview
One of the distinctive features of much modern European philosophy has been reflection on the meaning of human history. How should we, as historical beings, understand ourselves and our place in history? Are we moving forward, and if so, how and to what? Or should we rather be looking back, to understand where we are now and how we got here? And who indeedis meant to be included in the“we” in these questions?
This course will consider how some of the most important thinkers of the last 250 years, including Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Benjamin, Adorno, Foucault and Derrida, have asked and answered these questions.
The course will focus on a selection of key texts, showing how they cite, criticise and complicate each other. Given the centrality of history toall the thinkers concerned, the course will also provide a useful introduction to important strands within modern European philosophy.It will also reflect on the extent to which the project of philosophical history is complicit with European racism and colonialism.
Programme details
Course starts: 21 Sept 2023
Week 0: Course Orientation
Week 1: Philosophical history in the enlightenment and counter-enlightenment; decolonizing the philosophy of history?
Week 2: Kant: universal history
Week 3: Hegel: world history as the progress of spirit
Week 4: Marx: historical materialism
Week 5: Nietzsche: the uses and disadvantages of history for life
Week 6: Nietzsche: genealogy and the critique of progress
Week 7: Heidegger: from existential historicity to the history of being
Week 8: Benjamin: messianic history
Week 9: Adorno: history as catastrophe?
Week 10: Foucault and Derrida: deconstruction, genealogyand "the end of man"
Recommended reading
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
- Philosophy of History (The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) / Jensen, Anthony
- Progress (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) / Lange, Margaret Meek
Recommended Reading List
Certification
Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.
To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.
Fees
Description | Costs |
---|---|
Course Fee | £257.00 |
Take this course for CATS points | £10.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Tutor
Dr Meade McCloughan
Meade McCloughan has been studying philosophy for 40 years and has taught at University College London and Birkbeck College London. He is on the organising group of the Marx and Philosophy Society.
Course aims
To introduce participants to the ways in which key modern European thinkers have thought about history.
Course Objectives:
- To study the central themes in modern European philosophy of history.
- To understand the interrelations and debates between the philosophersconsidered.
- To enable a critical and informed approach to the issues involved.
Teaching methods
Copies of primary material by the philosophers covered will be made available electronically. These materials, along with the pre-recorded lecture, will then be the basis for the "live" discussion session. Students will be able to benefit from formative feedback on written work during the course.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
- have become familiar with the main elements of modern European philosophy of history;
- have developed informed and considered views as to the value of philosophical reflection on history;
- have developed skills in reading and evaluating a variety of historical philosophical texts.
Assessment methods
Participants will be given four short exercises during the course to complete (up to 500 words each). The tutor will assess and provide written comments on completed exercises. Students will be able to do all four short exercises.
Students can choose to be assessed for the course EITHER on the basis of THREE completed short exercises OR by submitting an essay of 1,500 words on a chosen topic from the course (suggested questions will be provided during the course). Those choosing to write an essay can submit a 500 word draft for feedback in advance of submitting the final version or can use one of the short exercises for the same purpose.
Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form
Application
We will close for enrolments 7 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (7 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.
To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete anenrolment form (Word)orenrolment form (Pdf).
Level and demands
This course deals with some difficult philosophical texts but aims to do so in a way which makes them accessible.
Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions.It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.
Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)
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