Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to:
BA students in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Philosophical Skills and one of the following combinations: Philosophy of Culture and Concepts of Selfhood OR World Philosophies: Greek and Roman Antqiuity and Language and Thought.
BA students in Filosofie, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Filosofische vaardigheden and one of the following combinations: Cultuurfilosofie and Continentale filosofie OR Griekse en Romeinse filosofie and Medieval Philosophy.
Pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement and who have to complete an advanced seminar.
Description
The course investigates the issues arising from a philosophical analysis of the experience of engaging in play. It seems that play combines seriousness with its opposite in ways that undermine many of the basic assumptions of philosophical thinking, including the principle of identity, the principle of reason, and the bond between value and truth. A careful analysis of the phenomenon of play undermines such assumptions and allows us to glimpse a worldview which is both consistent, complete and moderate. On the descriptive side, it allows us to regard reality as the result of a kind of playing, rather than conceiving of play as an imitation of reality. At a normative level, play is the experience of a positive embrace of groundlessness, which has been analysed throughout the literature as the key to healthy development, education, and the achievement of maturity.
The course covers much of the standard philosophical literature on play, including Heraclitus, Kant and Schiller, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Huizinga, Gadamer, Winnicott, Butler etc. Key topics include rule-following, maturity, play and seriousness, make-believe, modal ontology and the principle of reason.
Course objectives
This course aims to provide the students with a detailed view of:
the history of the concept of ‘play’ in Western (and to a lesser extent, some non-Western) philosophy;
the current state of the debate around play;
the implications of the experience of play for epistemology, ethics, aesthetics and ontology.
Students who successfully complete the course will have a good understanding of:
the history of the debates surrounding play (including cognitive and non-cognitive approaches, psychological, phenomenological and ontological approaches);
the metaphysical importance of play;
the relations between the philosophical and psychological views of play.
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
critically understand, comment and interconnect specialized texts and theories relative to play;
critically engage with some of the latest secondary literature on play;
present a consistent and comprehensive view of the current problems of the field and explore possible avenues of research.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar.
Class attendance is required.
Assessment method
Assessment
Oral or written presentation on a primary text and abstract (30%);
Final paper on a question chosen from a list of five (70%).
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average of several subtests (see above). To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
The resit will consists of one examination for all parts at once and the mark will replace all previously earned marks for subtests. No separate resits will be offered for mid-term tests. The resit will be a thoroughly demanding survey take-home paper covering the entirety of the course materials, and including a text commentary, a series of short questions and an argumentative essay. There may be an added short oral examination.
Students will only be eligible for the resit if they have submitted/presented all other practical assignments the term. Students who have obtained a satisfactory grade for the first examination(s) cannot take the resit.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The texts and reading schedule will be provided on Brightspace before the start of term.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.