EXISTENTIALISM
“Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework … The battle against dust and dirt is never won” Simone de Beauvoir.
Jenny Kermally
Never-ending routines that are doomed to failure prevent us from living an authentic life, according to existentialists. But they do keep us safe from the ‘existential angst’ that comes from living authentically. We’ll explore the authentic life, existentialism today, and whether you’re brave enough to take the plunge!
Course Code: 04 113 Wednesday 10.00/12.00 5 weeks Starts: 7 October 2020 Fees £40/£35
CHINESE POLITICAL THOUGHT
Tony Black
Traditionally, the ruler was ‘the Son of Heaven’, with bureaucrats selected on merit. Confucius taught beneficence and rule by persuasion; Legalists advocated coercion to promote the interests of the majority. From 221 BCE till 1911, China was a ‘Confucian-Legalist’ state. Chinese Communism under Mao; from 1978 Communist rule has been combined with a partly free market, and there has been a revival of Confucianism among intellectuals
Course Code: 04 104 Monday 2.00/4.00 5 weeks Starts: 9 November 2020 Fees: £40/£35
ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
“man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself” (Carson, The Silent Spring, 1963).
Jenny Kermally
Part lecture, part discussion, the course will explore philosophical arguments about how we should think about the environment. Focusing on the eco-philosophy of Val Plumwood, we’ll consider arguments that all living things have equal value, alongside arguments that environment matters because of its importance for humans.
Course Code: 04 211 Wednesday 10.00/12.00 5 weeks Starts: 20 January 2021 Fees £40/£35
GLOBAL POLITICAL THOUGHT
Tony Black
This course examines and discusses the major traditions of political thought throught the world as they aretoday. These include Western liberalism and democracy, Marxism, Islam, Confucianism and Ghandi. We will consider what is involved in these ideologies, how they evolved, how they relate to each other, and what the implications of these different belief-systems are for international relations.
Course Code: 04 204 Monday 2.00/4.00 5 weeks Starts 22 February 2021 Fees: £40/£35
PHILOSOPHY’S BAD BOY: Friedrich Nietzsche
Jenny Kermally
This course will look at the life, times and ideas of the controversial and thought-provoking philosopher. His work has been hugely influential sice the 1960s and he remains frequently quoted as well as misunderstood. The precursor to both existensialism and postmodernism, Neitzsche has more recently been co-opted by the alt-right.
Course Code: 04 310 Wednesday 10.00/12.00 5 weeks Starts: 21 April 2021 Fees: £40/£35
ISLAM
Tony Black
Islamic political thought is based on the teachings of Muhammad, who is seen as the last of the prophets, in the Qu’ran. The whole world must be ruled by his successors (caliphs) in accordance with the divine law (Shari’a), but with freedom for other monotheists (Christians, Jews, etc). Some tried to combine this with Plato’s ‘philosopher-king’. In modern times, some have given the Qu’ran a partly modern interpretation; others (‘fundamentalists’) have insisted on sticking with the original interpretation.
Course Code: 04 301 Monday 2.00/4.00 5 weeks Starts 12 April 2021 Fees: £40/£35
