Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE PHI3045

 
TITLE Contemporary Analytic Philosophy

 
UM LEVEL 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Philosophy

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit covers the major themes and methods in contemporary analytic philosophy. It will take a broadly historical approach in an attempt to unravel different strands and directions taken up by thinkers within this contemporary philosophical movement. It will then take up various areas such as conceptual analysis, the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and the philosophy of action (with a particular focus on the latter) to show both the kinds of interests and the methods used in analytic philosophy.

Study-unit Aims:

The aim of this study-unit is to familiarise students with the Anglo-American tradition of analytic philosophy. Special attention will be given to main concepts and methods in analytic philosophy through an engagement with texts.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- examine key philosophical concepts within analytic philosophy;
- explain the engagement of certain contemporary analytic philosophers with the tradition of continental philosophy;
- compare and contrast the views of certain analytic philosophers on the meaning of key concepts in analytic philosophy (logic, logical positivism, conceptual analysis, ordinary language philosophy, sense and reference, naming and necessity, meaning and truth, mind and action).

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- bring out the interrelationships between the key concepts within this philosophical movement;
- analyse different theoretical approaches that are applied to the understanding of language, action and mind;
- produce a scholarly research paper on key philosophical aspects of analytic philosophy.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Soames Scott, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century (2 Volumes), Princeton 2005.
Martinich A.P., and Sosa David, Analytic Philosophy: An Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell 2012.
Schwartz Stephen P., A Brief History of Analytic Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell 2012.
P.F. Strawson, Analysis and Metaphysics, OUP 2006.
Stroll Avrum, Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy, Columbia University Press 2000.
Klemke E.D. (ed.), Contemporary Analytic and Linguistic Philosophies, Prometheus Books 2000.
Anscombe E., Intention, Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1968.
Davidson D., Essays on Actions and Events, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002.
Enç Berent, How We Act, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006.
Friggieri J., Actions and Speech Actions, Mireva Publications, Malta 1991.
Hornsby J., Actions, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1980.
Kane Robert, Oxford Handbook of Free Will, OUP, Oxford 2011.
Mele Alfred R. (ed.), The Philosophy of Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1997.
Moya Carlos, The Philosophy of Action, Polity Press, Cambridge 1990.
O’ Connor Timothy and Costantine Sandis, A Companion to the Philosophy of Action, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford 2012.
Sultana Mark, Self-Deception and Akrasia: A Comparative Conceptual Analysis, PUG 2006.
Velleman David J., The Possibility of Practical Reason, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM1 Yes 50%
Assignment SEM1 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Mark Sultana

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit