module
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ANT2035: Philosophical Anthropology
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
Everybody has an opinion about ‘human nature’. In this class you will learn how to draw upon empirical sciences in making arguments that are not just opinions but claims that are accountable to evidence and logic. You will learn how to cross disciplinary boundaries in drawing and amalgamating evidence from different empirical sciences as well as from phenomenological analysis. You will gain insights into how biology, culture and history influence each other in the course of hominin/human becoming. You will gain experience in thinking about the relationship of descriptive to normative dimension in human understanding and you will write essays that enable you to address real contemporary problems in areas such as the bioethics of genetic engineering from the perspective of an empirically informed philosophy.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate familiarity with basic ideas of Philosophical Anthropology as a tradition and school of thought. 2. demonstrate familiarity with the basic ideas of several leading contemporary investigators whose work bears directly on general questions of what it means to be human. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. critically interrelate philosophical ideas with empirical findings. 4. productively apply your knowledge of human nature to problems in any other areas of philosophy. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. engage critically with assigned readings 6. communicate concepts and ideas clearly both orally and in writing. 7. demonstrate an ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |