Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Master in philosophy (120 ECTS) | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course (30h Th) aims at critically discussing one classical book of philosophy of mind, broadly construed. In 2019-20, set book is Franz Brentano's Psychology from an empirical standpoint. Without belonging properly speaking to the tradition of analytic philosophy of mind, this book opened up important research perspectives on the study of mind and mental phenomena. Emphasis will be put on the reconstruction, reception, and critical discussion of Brentano's main claims and arguments.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of the course, students are supposed to understand the main issues at stake in the book under discussion.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Bachelor in Philosophy.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Each class will be based upon the reading of one chapter of the set book (see schedule) and will be structured as follows:
- Contextualization from contemporary texts
- Reconstruction of the author's claims and arguments in the chapter
- Critical discussion
Active participation is expected. It includes:
- Participation during the sessions
- Reading the relevant chapter(s) for every session
- Posting entries in the e-Campus Forum (see below)
- Handing in your work on time
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Recommended or required readings
Set book (required for the classes):
- Franz Brentano, Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. Engl. trans. by A. C. Rancurello et al. London: Routledge. 1973. 2nd ed. 1995 (original German edition: Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkte, Leipzig, Duncker & Humblot, 1874; 1911; rééditions : Hamburg, Meiner, 1924 ; Sämtliche veröffentlichte Schriften, Bd. 1, Frankfurt, Ontos Verlag, 2008).
Assessment methods and criteria
I. Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. Please note that you can only miss two sessions. If you should miss a third session, a medical certificate will be needed. Should you miss a fourth session your term paper will not be considered and you will not pass the course.
II. Grade will be calculated on the basis of:
- Active participation during the sessions (10%)
- Active participation in the e-Campus Forum (30%)
- Final assessment: Term paper OR oral exam (60 %)
Students will be asked to participate weekly in the e-Campus Forums, by posting an entry and responding to at least one of your fellow students. These entries are responses to the reading assigned for that week.
- Entries must be uploaded Mondays before every session, 23:59 at the latest.
- Your entries should consist in a question/objection about a specific text passage of the reading assigned for that week.
- Your responses to your fellow students should always respond specifically to the question asked or the objection raised by suggesting varying interpretations/giving concrete counter-arguments.
- The best questions/objections will be discussed in class.
For the final assessment, participants are asked to choose one of the two following assessment modalities: writing a term paper OR passing an oral exam.
- Oral exam will consist in answering three questions on the views presented in the set book. Students will typically be asked to (i) explain the content of one chapter of the book (drawn by lot) and (ii) explain two concepts or two claims by the author.
Assessment criteria are:
- the relevance of the answers
- their completeness
- their formal quality (clarity, structure, mastering of technical terms)
Assessment criteria will be
- the relevance of the question at issue
- the formal quality of the written text, including its clarity
- the inner articulation and consistency of the ideas
- Length: 10-12 pages/3000 words.
- Please respect the academic standards in terms of style and layout (Times New Roman 12pt, paragraphs with alinea, text justified, Line and Paragraph Spacing: 1.5)
- Deadline: 30/01/2020, 23:59
- Please send your paper as PDF to a.dewalque(at)uliege.be
- IMPORTANT: For every 24 hours of delay you will lose two marks on your paper. Examples: Original grade (11) handed in 1 day late: Final grade (9); original grade (18) handed in 2 days late: Final grade (14)
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
See schedule.
Contacts
Teacher Prof. Arnaud Dewalque Dpt of Philosophy 7, Place du 20-août, Building A1/2nd floor B-4000 Liège Phone 0032 (4) 366 55 93 E-mail a.dewalque@ulg.ac.be
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Assessment subjects
Assessment methods
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session
Assessment subjects
Unchanged.
Assessment methods
Unchanged. Students are advised to favour the handing in of a final paper. Final papers are to be sent by email until August 21, 2020 (23:59) at the latest.
Students who want to pass an online oral exam instead of writing a paper are kindly invited to get in touch with the professor before the exam session in order to agree on the practical modalities of the examination.
Contacts
Email: a.dewalque@uliege.be
Items online
Course Plan - Syllabus
Course Plan - Syllabus