MA in Philosophy at the University of Sussex
Kathleen Stock
The MA in Philosophy at Sussex has been redesigned for 2005-06 to include a
core course and new courses in Mind and Reality and Language and Truth, as
well as a Philosophy Special Subject course which offers the opportunity to
work at an advanced level with tutors in their areas of research interest.
The MA offers an advanced general grounding in Philosophy, which forms a
good basis for further research, and can be pursued for its own sake. It
offers courses in analytical philosophy, continental philosophy, and the
history of philosophy, reflecting the mixture of interests of members of
the Philosophy Department, as well as the opportunity to take individual
courses from related programmes such as the MAs in Aesthetics; Philosophy
of Cognitive Science; Literature, Religion and Philosophy; and Social and
Political Thought.
Autumn Term courses
Philosophical Topics (core course) (tutors: Tanja Staehler, Andrew Chitty,
Gordon Finlayson, Murali Ramachandran, David Smith)
This course will provide an advanced introduction to a number of central
topics in philosophy, such as: realism and idealism; the nature of
perception; the possibility of knowledge; the nature of thought; freedom
and determinism; the possibility of metaphysics; language and thought;
moral truth. Four topics will be covered each year, and each topic will be
introduced by a specialist in the field.
Mind and Reality (tutor: Lucy Allais)
This course will examine questions which bear on the nature of the mind,
the nature of the world, and the relation between the two. Central issues
are likely to include: perception, knowledge, primary and secondary
qualities, causation, realism and idealism. In 2005-06 the course will
focus on Kant and philosophical idealism.
Phenomenology (tutor: Tanja Staehler)
This course will examine works in the phenomenological tradition, which
includes such philosophers as Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre,
Levinas and Derrida. Usually the readings will be focused around a specific
theme. Central questions include: How did phenomenologists after Husserl
modify his phenomenological method? How does one best address the question
of 'the other' phenomenologically? How do phenomenologists tackle issues of
language, art and history?
Spring Term courses
Language and Truth (tutor: Murali Ramachandran)
This course examines the nature of language, the relations between thought
and language and between world and language, and the issue of the extent to
which it is possible to theorize systematically about language. Topics may
include: sense and reference; extensionality and intensionality;
verificationism; scepticism about meaning; intention and meaning; truth and
meaning; realism and anti-realism.
Texts in the History of Philosophy (tutor: David Smith)
This course will offer students the opportunity to study particular texts
in the history of philosophy in some depth. The choice of texts may be
thematic or author-based.
Political and Legal Philosophy (tutor: Andrew Chitty)
This course addresses some of the major issues in contemporary political
philosophy and philosophy of law. Topics covered may include the nature and
justification of the state and of political ideals such as democracy,
justice, freedom, equality and legality; natural law and positivist
theories of law; rights and natural rights; theories of justice and private
property; global justice and cosmopolitanism; and the justification of war.
The main focus is on contemporary writers but texts from the history of
political and legal thought may also be used.
(See also course description 2005-06)
Philosophy Special Subject
This course will offer students the opportunity to work at an advanced
level in tutorial situations on a topic close to a tutor's research
interests. The course can be used to further a student's investigation of a
topic or figure already studied in an Autumn Term course, or to pursue a
new area of interest. Topics likely to be on offer include: epistemology;
Wittgenstein; Kant; Husserl; Heidegger; perception; Hegel; Marx.
For more information on graduate study at Sussex, please see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/philosophy/1-2-6.html
For more information on the MA in Philosophy in particular, please see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/philosophy/1-2-6-2.html
For information about members of the Department, please see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/philosophy/academic_faculty.html
For information about the University generally, please see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/
Please contact our graduate convener, Andrew Chitty, with any queries:
A.E.C...@sussex.ac.uk
Kathleen Stock,
Lecturer,
Department of Philosophy,
Arts B 235,
School of Humanities,
University of Sussex,
Falmer, Brighton,
BN1 9QN
Tel: 01273 877822
Email: K.M....@sussex.ac.uk
Visit the British Society of Aesthetics website:
http://www.british-aesthetics.org
Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html.
Prolonged discussions should be moved to chora: enrol via
http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/chora.html.
Other philosophical resources on the Web can be found at http://www.liv.ac.uk/pal.