Politics and Philosophy BA

This module investigates different kinds of contemporary logic, as well as their uses in philosophy. We will investigate the syntax and semantics of various logics, including first order logic, modal logics, and three-valued logics, as well as ways to apply formal techniques from these logics to philosophical topics such as possibility and necessity, vagueness, and the Liar paradox.

We’ll cover ways to reason and construct proofs using the logics we study, and also ways to reason about them. We’ll look at proofs regarding the limits of formal logic, including proofs of soundness, completeness, and decidability.

This module is a discussion of some philosophical problems pertaining to art. Topics could include definitions of art, the objectivity versus the subjectivity of aesthetic evaluations, emotional response to art, the ontological status of artworks, and Walton's theory of make-believe.

This module aims to promote a deeper understanding of philosophical issues pertaining to art. By the end of the module, you should be able to discuss and evaluate different views of the expressive power of art, to explain certain current views on the status of aesthetic evaluations, and to present the main contemporary viewpoints pertaining to the nature of artworks.

This module explores key themes and debates in the study of African politics. It aims to provide a broad introduction to African domestic and regional politics as well as Africa’s evolving position within an international political arena.

This module concerns these three themes: Authenticity, Freedom, and Ethics and their relations.

We will be exploring these themes via a focus on how they are handled by three different schools of thought: Kantianism; Existentialism; and Contemporary Compatibilism. Philosophers on the agenda include Kant, Korsgaard, and Velleman (from the Kantian School); Sartre, Camus, and Beauvoir (from the Existentialist School); and Frankfurt, Watson, and Wolff (from the Contemporary Compatibilist School). Questions on the agenda, to be pursued via engagement with the thinkers already mentioned, include:

• What is it to display authenticity in one’s actions and why think that authenticity is a virtue?
• What is it to act freely? Is this just the same thing as acting authentically, or are these different?
• How are we to square the possibility of free action with the truth of various determinist theses in metaphysics and also the obvious fact that we have no control over aspects of our lives that seem important from the point of view of responsibility?
• What makes it the case that we have duties to other people? And what is the content of these duties?
• Does one lead a life that is less free or less authentic to the extent that one fails to act on moral commitments? Or are moral commitments an optional add-on to the life of authenticity and freedom?
• What impact might the view that value is constructed by the individual have on our answer to these questions?

This module will focus on a critical examination of core aspects of Buddhist thinking, with emphasis on some of its basic psychological, spiritual, and metaphysical conceptions.

These include, in particular: the origin and nature of suffering; the no-self thesis; enlightenment; consciousness; experiential knowing; and the doctrine of Emptiness (the lack of inherent nature in all things and impermanence).

China, as the new and upcoming superpower, has become a focal point of global attention. This module introduces students to the major topics in China's interaction with the evolution of China's foreign policy since 1949 as well as its role in the international affairs and international political economy.

Much of the module will be an examination of China's political and economic relations with major powers and regions such as the US, the EU, the UK, Russia, Asia, and Africa, major initiatives of China, the responses towards China from these powers and regions, and major issues in their relations. This module will also survey main aspects of China's power and its role in critical global issues.  

The module will explore how domestic politics and other developments have contributed to the rise of China as a great power of the first league on the one hand, and to the emergence of strong nationalism or its manifestation on the other.

This module will teach you how to communicate philosophy through a variety of different mediums, assessing them in each. We will look at how philosophy can be communicated through legal documentation, press releases, handouts, lesson plans, webpages, funding bids and posters (with optional presentations).

A number of the sessions will be delivered by professionals from outside the university, with support from the module convener. Seminars will be used to develop each of the items for assessment. You will be invited to draw upon your prior philosophical learning to generate your assessments, except in the case of handout where you will be set a specific philosophical task and asked to complete some (very basic) independent research.

In society we do things with words. We can use language to lie, to praise, to convince, and to insult. This course will consider the ethical and political ramifications of speech and language. We will use methods from the philosophy of language to investigate these issues.

Representative topics include how we should define and use certain terms (For example: 'sex', 'gender', 'woman', 'disability', 'race', 'class', 'queer'), accounts of what it is to lie, accounts of the social effects of language (for example: slurs, dogwhistles and propaganda), how terms can be “claimed”, the harms of speech and how to balance those with the right to speech, silencing, epistemic injustice. 

This module enables you to undertake a sustained piece of research and analysis into a subject within the discipline of politic and international relations.

In this module we'll ask questions like:

• How should human beings interact with the non-human natural world?
• Is nature intrinsically valuable, or does it possess value only by being valuable to us?

As part of this we'll cover topics such as:

• the moral status of animals
• the ethics of zoos
• responsibility for climate change
• whether there is any connection between the twin oppressions of women and nature
• the environmental impact of having children
• the ethics of restoring nature after it has been damaged by human development

This module is worth 20 credits.

What are the proper concerns of an egalitarian society? If we’re concerned about equality, what kind of world should we be working towards? What does it mean to treat one another as equals? Should we treat each other that way? If so, why? And what are the political implications of such obligations? 

In this module we will be exploring these and other questions at the heart of the egalitarian project. Subjects will include equality of condition, relational equality, moral equality and political equality. We will also touch on issues around welfare, luck, rights, dignity, status and democracy. Writers covered may include Dworkin, Sen, Parfit, Anderson, Kant, Rousseau, Scanlon, Christiano and Rawls.

What does it mean to be represented in politics? This module uses gender as a prism through which to view intersectional debates on political representation. We ask what women’s representation is, what it looks like in political institutions, how gender norms shape access to and participation in political institutions, why women's representation matters for policy outcomes, how it impacts on social movements and voting behaviour, and how it matters in global governance.

Our approach is broadly comparative, focussing on theories and case examples from both high-income countries in the Global North and low- and middle-income countries in the Global South. Our wide selection of countries also allows us to consider what role women’s participation can have in quality of governance and democracy. We recognize that global norm diffusion is key to boosting women’s representation, from gender quotas and gender mainstreaming in the UN's Beijing Platform for Action to the gender equality provisions in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and our discussions will also be of interest to students of international relations. The module engages with diverse perspectives and methodologies and will enable students to develop transferable skills in analytical literacy that can be applied across the social sciences.

The aim of this module is to explain and assess the nature, role and significance of political ideas and ideologies in contemporary Britain. It examines how and why the policies and practices of the 'mainstream' British parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal and Liberal Democrats) have been informed by ideas and ideologies, on the one hand, and pragmatic and electoral considerations, on the other.

It also examines the political ideas and practices of ‘non-mainstream’ parties and social movements (including environmentalism and feminism) and their role and significance for the study and practice of politics in contemporary Britain. 

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Politics and truth have always had a complicated relationship. Lies, bullshit, spin, and propaganda are nothing new.

Polarization is on the rise in many democracies and political disagreements have spread to disputes about obvious matters of fact.

But have we really entered the era of 'post-truth' politics? Is debate now framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the facts?

In this module, we'll explore questions such as:

• Should the existence of widespread disagreement in politics make us less confident in our own views?
• Are voters morally or epistemically obligated to vote responsibly?
• Is it rational for citizens to base their political views on group identity rather than reasoned arguments?
• Should we have beliefs about complex policy questions about which we are not experts?
• Is democracy the best form of government for getting at the truth?

This module is worth 20 credits.

Contemporary politics often shows two seemingly contradictory phenomena. On the one hand that many political analysts and political actors proclaim that ‘left’ and ‘right’ are outdated and not relevant anymore in contemporary politics as organising principles. On the other hand, that these terms are persistently and ubiquitously used to describe and interpret policies, events, and behaviours.  

The module focuses on the question of the role of ‘left’ and ‘right’ as structuring principles in a variety of political domains, ranging from party competition, policy formation (domestic as well as foreign policy), public opinion, public political discourse, voting behaviour, media production and consumption, etc.

Karl Marx's thoughts and words have had an enormous impact on history. Revolutions have been fought, economic policies pursued and artistic movements established by followers (and opponents) of Marxism.

Together we'll examine some of Mark's original writing and explore his thinking. Specific themes we'll cover include:

• alienation
• the materialist conception of history
• ideology
• the labour theory of value

By the end of the module you should have a good overview of Marx's attempt to synthesise German philosophy, French political theory, and British economics.

This module is worth 20 credits.

This module examines the relationship between the Middle East and the rest of the world across the 20th century and up to the present day. It covers the influence of empire, the experience of the Cold War, the Gulf War, Iraq War, Arab Spring and the Syrian conflict, whilst also focusing on important themes for the region including terrorism, oil, nuclear proliferation, authoritarianism and nationalism. In so doing it provides you with a deeper understanding of the history of a complex region and knowledge of the many challenges faced by the Middle East today. 

This module will consider mind, psychology, and mental health from a philosophical angle. The module will cover a range of exciting and fundamental topics in the philosophy of mind and psychology (chosen from topics such as, the social mind, animal minds, the nature of consciousness, the mind-body problem, the emotions, imagination, pain, will and action, belief, perception, mind as machine, and artificial intelligence - selected topics will vary from year to year).

We will always ask how these relate to mental health. But the module will also have a more specific focus on mental health as we will take the tools of philosophy of mind and psychology to mental health: we will consider how philosophy of mind and psychology can help us better understand mental health, but also how reflection on mental health can impact work in philosophy of mind and psychology. So the module will also cover content chosen from topics and areas such as the nature of mental health (and mental illness), delusion, thought-insertion, therapy, self-deception and the philosophy of specific mental disorders (for example, addiction, schizophrenia, depression) - specific topics varying from year to year.

So, in sum the module will combine focus on specific topics in philosophy of mind and psychology (with a mental health angle), and specific topics in philosophy of mental health (with a philosophy of mind and psychology angle).

Illness, ageing, death and dying are universal experiences. Yet discussion about them often only happens in times of emotional distress.

Together we'll explore philosophical issues related to human mortality in an open, supportive and compassionate way.

As well as a deeper understanding of the issues you will also build capacity to think sensitively and humanely about the human experience of ageing, illness, and dying.

Typical topics might include:

• experiences of being chronically ill
• psychiatry and mental health
• the oppression of ill persons · illness narratives
• the moral and spiritual significance of illness
• the experience of dying
• empathy, grief, and mourning
• death and the meaning of life
• the significance of human mortality to wider philosophical issues and concerns

This module is worth 20 credits.

A dissertation of 7,000 words on a philosophical topic approved by the Module Convenor. The supervisor is not permitted to read and comment more than once on one draft of 7,000 words. Enrolment is by permission of the module convenor.

This module covers questions such as 'What is artificial intelligence (AI)?', 'Can artificial intelligence be creative?', 'Can artificial intelligence understand, think or have phenomenal consciousness?', 'What would a paradigm shift in the way we understand intelligence and artificial intelligence look like?', 'What are the ethical constraints on the research and methods of artificial intelligence?', 'What are the dangers associated with the wider use of AI in human society?', 'Who is responsible for actions/decisions taking by AI systems or algorithms?', 'How should we interact with AI systems?'.

The aim of this module is to consider and evaluate some key debates in specific areas in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. By the end of the module students should have an advanced understanding of, be informed about, and be in a position to critically evaluate various positions within the philosophy of artificial intelligence, e.g., architectures and capabilities of artificial intelligence, AI ethics, AI creativity, AI responsibility and Human/AI Interaction.

Much of our life is filled with compulsory work but when free of obligation, when at leisure, we play in many different ways. We voluntarily chose to engage with the arbitrary rules and restrictions of games. We roll dice and push the pieces round a board. We twiddle thumbs and shoot fictional computer game zombies. We get involved in organised physical activities, sports such as football or athletics. We seek to escape our everyday lives by hiking up mountains in the wild, or by drinking and dancing in nightclubs. We may play with others, seeking friendship, intimacy or sex. We may relax alone, reading literature or practising art. We may mix these different activities together. 

The global economy presents a wide variety of political challenges and can create multiple types of crisis for states and the actors within it. Most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has put the whole system under pressure and revealed its fragility.

This module analyses some of these challenges and crises, which range from sovereign default to the global free trade system and the impact of climate change, to help us understand and explain the international political economy. It draws on scholarship from the fields of international relations theory, international political economy, security studies, and economic history to provide students with a more nuanced understanding of global politics. 

This course will offer an overview of political party development and the functioning of party systems in democratic states around the world, with a special focus on post-transitional democracies in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Applying a variety of analytical concepts, theoretical approaches, and empirical indicators to the study of party politics, the course will highlight the institutional and sociological determinants of party organisation development and system stability as well as the consequences of party failure and party system collapse.  

This module will discuss political violence, including but not limited to topics on interstate war, bargaining, Thucydides traps, nuclear weapons, domestic politics of conflict, the Kantian peace, alliances, civil wars, genocide, peacekeeping, terrorism and economic sanctions.

It will present a rational choice framework, as well as explore alternative approaches, for analysing these topics and engage with the quantitative and qualitative literature to study them. It will cover a range of themes, questions, and international examples related to why and how state and non-state actors rely on power and force to achieve political goals. 

This module involves a part-time placement (one day a week) in an external organisation, and is aimed at developing hands-on work experience and employability skills in a workplace relevant to students of politics. Pre-placement training will be provided via three half-day workshops at the beginning of the module.

Each placement will be arranged by the work placement officer. Placements will be provided by organisations involved in private, public and third sector organisations, such as the civil service, charities and political parties.

Departmental mentoring will take the form of a weekly drop-in tutorial with the module convenor, in which experiences are shared and work is undertaken on the assessment tasks. Group presentations will occur during the final four hour workshop, at which time each group will critically reflect on their experiences of the ethos and goals of their host organisation.

This module seeks to introduce students to theories of race and racialisation, including, but not limited to, postcolonial theory, orientalism, and intersectionality. After learning the basics of these theoretical lenses, students will study the politics of race in different country contexts through countries’ histories of colonialism and imperialism as well as contemporary racial and ethnic disparities.   

This module will bridge the gap between academic study and pragmatic policy. It will consider how extremist ideas come into politics through extremist versions of ideology and religion, based on theories of prominent writers in the field.

It will consider political ideologies’ reliance on power and the role of violence through past case studies such as anarchism, Nazism and religious extremism. The module will also look at responses to terrorism utilising a case study approach that explores the United Kingdom’s and United States of America’s methods.

An introduction to the concepts and practices of secret intelligence and its place within international security. The module is split into three sections.

The first examines conceptual issues and models, the second explores some of the roles of intelligence in the twenty-first century and the third examines how intelligence actors can actively shape international relations. These are highly relevant issues, which are regularly in the media. 

The Anglo-American so-called 'Special Relationship' has provoked controversy since the term was coined after World War Two. To some commentators it has represented an attempt by the UK to hide its decline by lofty rhetoric and becoming the 'poodle' of a Superpower. To others, it has been a relationship that has served the interests of both countries and provided a foundation for Western cooperation. This module explores the salient aspects of a relationship that has been built around security, conventional and nuclear. 

Against the backdrop of increasingly tense EU-US relations, Brexit, and rising nationalism in Europe, this module analyses the European Union's international role. It first introduces concepts and decision-making processes related to EU foreign policy both, by Member States and EU institutions. In particular, we analyse the processes within the European Communities, and the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policies) / CSDP (Common Security and Defence Policies) frameworks.

The module then critically assesses security and economic policies towards states and regions in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia. Themes to explain the nature of contemporary EU foreign policies include: European integration, intergovernmentalism and supranationalism, neoliberalism and ethical foreign policy, development aid (including for health and education) and diplomacy, post-colonialism, as well as military and civilian means for conflict-management. 

Questions relating to nationalism and ethnic conflict have become more prominent in political debate since the end of the Cold War, and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrated the continuing importance of constitutional crafting as a means to manage ethnic diversity within states. 

This module evaluates differing definitions of the 'nation' and 'ethnic group', examines different state strategies to manage diversity such as multiculturalism, assimilation and integration, and considers different explanations of conflict between different ethnic groups. 

It then examines in more detail strategies adopted by particular states to manage their diversity. The countries of India, America, France, Afghanistan, the UK, and Germany are focused upon, but students are encouraged to use material relating to other countries if they have particular knowledge of these cases.

Why are some states better at protecting, respecting, and fulfilling their human rights obligations, while others are not? Understanding the conditions under which governments protect human rights is crucial for the field of International Relations and policy makers alike. This module will discuss cutting-edge research within and beyond the human rights field.

You will learn about autocratic state behaviour, safeguards within democratic systems, the campaigns and challenges of NGOs and international organisations, and the wide-ranging effects of globalisation across the different categories and dimensions of human rights. The module will apply theory and empirical insights from these different fields of inquiry in order to understand the relative protection and enjoyment of human rights across different country contexts.

By the end of the module, you will have a clear understanding about human rights research and its effects on the real world.

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At the dawn of the 21st century, the status of democracy across the world is uncertain. In Central and Eastern Europe, it has become the only game in town, but in other regions like Russia or the Arab World it has suffered reversals. To make sense of these events, this module examines and is structured around some of the big, important questions that have long interested political scientists around the questions of democracy. What is democracy? Why are some countries democratic and others not? How did democracy emerge in different countries? What difference does democracy make for people’s lives?

The module adopts a global and comparative perspective, by focusing on countries in specific regions and by studying different data sets on the design, functioning and influence of democratic institutions.  

The state is the predominant site of power and authority in the modern world. Where modern states do not exist there is usually civil war or occupation; where they are ineffective, politics, society and economy tend to be unstable. But the modern state is also itself a site of violence and coercion in the name of which much suffering has been inflicted on those subject to its power, at home and abroad. Modern politics, then, simply cannot be understood unless we also understand the modern state.

By taking this module, students will become familiar with some of the most important theories of the modern state in the history of political thought, from Bodin and Hobbes, through Hegel and Schmitt, to Carole Pateman and Charles W. Mills, very much in the present. Students will come to appreciate how the power and authority of the modern state have been characterised, justified and repudiated during the modern era.