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 Concepts of Selfhood.
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 Comparative Philosophy.
Description
Does human nature exist? If so, what is its content, and how does it relate to morality? The question of human nature has played a central role in the development of moral thought across philosophical traditions. This course explores diverse perspectives on human nature and its relation to moral philosophy through a comparative lens, focusing on classical Confucian thought and eighteenth-century British moral philosophy.
We will examine Confucian accounts of human nature, particularly those of Mengzi and Xunzi, alongside the evolution of British moral philosophy from Thomans Hobbes and Francis Hutcheson to David Hume and Adam Smith. Through close textual analysis and cross-cultural comparison, we will investigate how different conceptions of human nature inform the construction of moral theories, revealing tensions between self-interest and virtue, and between natural and artificial foundations of morality.
This comparative study will illuminate the interplay between views of human nature and moral theories based on sentiment and virtue, as well as the distinction between ancient and modern approaches to human beings and life. This study will encourage reflection on how we shape our self-cultivation and moral aspirations.
Course objectives
Students who successfully complete the course will have a good understanding of:
Ancient Chinese and modern British perspectives on human nature;
The development of moral philosophy within Confucian and British intellectual traditions;
moral theories grounded in sentiments and virtues and their relevance to individual moral self-cultivation.
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
Formulate critical responses to the philosophical texts and ideas in a cross-cultural context;
Critically analyze notions and arguments presented in primary and secondary resources;
Interact with philosophical ideas in a cross-cultural context, both by active participation during class and by written work.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Final Essay
Assignments
Presentation
Attendance and Participation
Weighing
Short written assignments: 25%
Class presentation: 15%
Attendance and Participation: 10%
Final essay: 50%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
The resit will consist of an opportunity to resubmit the final semester paper that was not sufficient. The grades for other exam components (written assignment, presentation, attendance and participation) remain in place. Students who have obtained a satisfactory overall grade for the course 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
- Van Norden & Ivanhoe, eds., Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy.
Other course readings will be distributed via Brightspace.
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.