Philosophy 201 (PHI201) and Philosophy 202 (PHI202) aim at deepening our student’s understanding of historical and contemporary debates in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics started in PHI101 and PHI102. It might include specialised topics in, for instance, Philosophy of Mind, or Religion, or Moral Philosophy or Ancient Philosophy.

Philosophy 201 

Entrance Requirements: any of the following configurations — PHI 101 AND PHI 102; PHI 101 (OR PHI 102) AND BOM 101 (OR BOM 102); a 70% pass in BOM 101 AND BOM 102.

The course bears 15 credits at NQF Level 6.
DP requirements: at least 40% for course work.
Assessment: Coursework 60%; June exam 40%.

Philosophy 202

Entrance Requirements: any of the following configurations — PHI 201; PHI 101 AND PHI 102; PHI 101 (OR PHI 102) AND BOM 101 (OR BOM 102); a 70% pass in BOM 101 AND BOM 102.

The course bears 15 credits at NQF level 6.
DP requirements: at least 40% for course work.
Assessment: Coursework 60%; June exam 40%.

2024 COURSE OFFERINGS FOR PHILOSOPHY 201

Term 1: Freedom, Oppression and Being Human

Prof Tom Martin

This module will introduce you to some of the core concepts of existentialist philosophy (existentialism), as espoused and employed by writers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Steve Biko. Our main foci will be i) what it is to be human (i.e. to exist and live as humans), ii) what it is to be human in relation to other humans, and iii) the ethical dimensions of our relations with others. 

Term 2: Partiality, Gender, and the Family

Prof Ward E. Jones

The family is a social domain which exists between each of us as individuals and the wider public sphere. It is a realm of personal interests – love, partiality, and privacy – which we are required to set aside when we prioritize the requirements of our public roles: work, study, trade, or public service. The family is also a gendered domain of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons. Depending upon their sex, parents and children are both governed by differing expectations regarding their behavior and responsibilities. In our readings, these features of the family are explored, theorized, and critiqued. We begin by reading from Plato’s The Republic, a formative document in Western political thought. Other readings will be drawn from more recent feminist and Afro-feminist work on the family.  

2024 COURSE OFFERINGS FOR PHILOSOPHY 202

Students will choose two of the following three semester length courses:

Option I: Introduction to Epistemology

Dr Tess Dewhurst

Knowledge seems to be something that we all have quite a lot of. However, when we try to pin down what exactly knowledge is, it starts to seem that not only do we not have a lot of it, but perhaps it is impossible to have it at all. On the face of it, knowing that something is the case means that we just cannot be wrong about it: but how can we rule out the possibilities like the Matrix, where everything we take to be true about the world, is, in fact false? Such a paradox forces us to look again at what we mean by knowledge, and what it takes for us to have it. Epistemology is the study of knowledge. In this course we will look at some of the central questions facing epistemologists, and at some of the answers that are still being debated.

Option II: Feminist Philosophy and the Gender Problem

Dr Lindokuhle Gama

Numerous critiques directed at the sex/gender distinction have cast doubt upon the conceptual validity of the category “woman”. This ongoing discourse emerges from various feminist traditions ranging from Western feminism, Black feminism and African feminism broadly. Historically, Western feminists have ascribed a significance to the category “woman” and the analytic purchase of the concept of gender. While consensus now prevails among feminists that being identified as a woman or a man extends beyond anatomical attributes, there exists a divergence in their interpretations of these categories and their usefulness, or lack thereof, in understanding culturally specific contexts. In this course, you will be taken through 3 camps in the debate as gender realists, gender particularists and gender nominalists. We will delve into this discourse with the objective of addressing fundamental questions such as: What is a woman? What, if any, factors unite women? What constitutes a woman? Does gender operate exclusively as a social construct? Through critical engagement with various canonical thinkers of dominant feminist traditions, we will engage the complexities of this feminist discourse and foster a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted dimensions inherent in the conceptualization of gender and/or the category woman.

Option III: Ancient Greek Philosophers on the Soul

Dr Laurence Bloom

This is a course in Ancient Philosophy. In it we will be examining how certain Ancient Philosophers thought about the soul (ψυχή). In doing so we will also be attempting to gain an appreciation for the way in which Ancient Philosophers examine in general. That is, although this course is focused on a particular issue, over and above the issue itself we will also be concerned with understanding and engaging in the Ancient Greek practice of philosophy. For the Greeks, soul is the difference between a living being and a non-living being and thus, in asking questions about the soul we are asking questions about what it is that makes us be alive. It should be clear that this question has nothing to do with any particular religious beliefs or any beliefs in general. For the Greeks, the question is a scientific one. Soul is not something we do or do not choose to believe in, it is something we attempt to understand. Thus, the central question of this course is: What is life? Or, what does it mean to be alive? Or, perhaps, what is the principle of life? In approaching this question, we will be looking at the unique qualities that living things have that the non-living do not, such as: a striving towards self-preservation, the ability to heal, to absorb nutrients, reproduce, perceive, move independently, and to think. This last quality in particular—the ability of an organism to think—is one that ancient science is able to explore in ways that contemporary science is not, as we will see.

Dr Bloom is the course coordinator for Philosophy 2

Last Modified: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 11:19:33 SAST