An introduction to some of the most important methodological devices encountered in philosophy. We begin with the canonical notion of a cogent argument, and then move to cover a range of other important abstract concepts that pervade philosophy, e.g. analysis, explanation, probability, necessity, reflective equilibrium, etc. Working through a series of illustrative applications, we excavate abstract notions that are foundational to moral, political and applied philosophy as well as to ‘theoretical’ philosophy.
In the second half of the module we return to arguments, and learn to understand important aspects of logics, the formal apparatuses which are used to evaluate arguments. Students learn to translate English sentences into formulas of logical symbolism and through those translations, to understand important structural features of both everyday and philosophical language.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate understanding of the important methodological notions discussed in the module;
Employ those notions to analyse and assess a range of philosophical theories and positions;
Translate relevant English sentences into formal logical notation and vice versa;
Demonstrate understanding of the principal ways in which logical formulas illuminate important structural features of everyday and philosophical language.