Dr Marie Milofsky

This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad) and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This syllabus is conceived as a travel across space and across time, zooming in and out of particular places at particular periods. We will cover the common theme of war throughout the term.

We will first go to Ancient China at the time of the Warring States Period. Several schools of thought (chia) flourished during these 250 years: Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism or Legalism. We will explore the political responses suggested by Mozi (Mohist doctrine) and Laozi (Daoist school) to this violent period of history. Where Mozi suggested a stronger political structure, Laozi recommended ‘non-action’. 

Our travel will next take us to south Asia, at the beginning of Buddhism. Buddhist ethics promotes a deep-rooted work on human behaviour through ethical conduct, meditation and perception of the world. Unfortunately, the theory is not always followed in practice, and we will see that justifications for war grew in Buddhism despite a strict interdiction to kill.

After the birth of Islam in the 7th Century, a flourishing medieval Muslim philosophy emerged; Avicenna, Al Ghazali, Averroes, just to name a few, brought the use of reason into faith. Their field of exploration was rather vast, ranging from the cosmological argument to the debate on free will vs determinism and moral responsibility. We will cover one of these themes.

1492, Columbus arrived in South America. Walking in the Spaniards’ footsteps, we witness the ‘Destruction of the Indies’ through war, genocide, enslavement and colonisation. Dominican Friars who came to teach the Gospel opened some of the most interesting legal debates on: who has jurisdiction over the land? To whom belong the natural resources? Is it permissible to restrict the immigration right? If yes on which grounds? ... You will re-enact these debates as a member of a team.

Our journey ends back in Europe where Descartes occupied the intellectual scene at the dawn of the Enlightenment. His mind/body dual theory was brilliantly challenged both by Elizabeth of Bohemia and later by Anton Wilhelm Amo, an African philosopher (from today Ghana). It will be with this topic on philosophy of mind that we will end the term.

10 hours of lectures and 13 hours of classes in the WT.

Please note that the classes in weeks 7, 8 and 9 are two hours long and are compulsory. A summative exercise (30% of the final grade) will take place during these sessions. Attendance to the lectures in these weeks is strongly recommended.

No meetings will take place in reading week (Week 6).

Essay (60%, 1500 words) in the ST.
Class participation (10%) in the WT and ST.
Other (30%) in the WT.

10% Class Participation

30% In-Class Debate (WT)

60% Summative Essay (1,500 words) + Reflective Commentaries due ST.