Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to:
BA students in Filosofie and Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives
International pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement, and for whom this course is part of their programme.
Description
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (Santayana)
This core course explores the aims and methods of the academic discipline of historiography of philosophy, that is, the study and writing of the history of philosophy. It is concerned with a secret history in so far as philosophers tend to consciously or unconsciously neglect it when they are engaged in their favourite type of philosophizing. From a series of case studies it will become clear why philosophers are generally not reliable guides to the history of philosophy: there is too much at stake for them to do justice to their predecessors, if they even bother to study them. The case studies will be taken from the global history of philosophy, and concern different subdisciplines of philosophy (practical, theoretical and comparative).
At the same time, the course intends to explore and practice two complementary applications of the study of the history of philosophy: how can proper knowledge of the history of philosophy support philosophers today in developing their thinking and their arguments? Moreover, how can it serve as a critical tool to separate sense from nonsense in philosophical debates? In this context we shall look at, e.g., issues in philosophy of history, and the significance of periodisation and geographical scope for the historiography of philosophy.
Course Objectives
Students who successfully complete the course will have a good understanding of:
Aims and methods of the historiography of philosophy (and some of its history)
Important issues in philosophy of history
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
Discuss and assess different views about aims and methods of the historiography of philosophy
Discuss and assess different applications of knowledge of the history of philosophy to contemporary philosophy
Produce samples of historiography of philosophy in full awareness of the above discussions
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar (a mix of short lectures, student presentations, and discussions)
Assessment method
Assessment
Oral presentation (20%)
Final paper (80%)
Weighing
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 a revised final paper (80%). The grade for the presentation will remain in place.
Students who have obtained a satisfactory grade for the first examination 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 reading material will be offered through 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.