Module Directory

This module aims to provide an introduction to thought about the relations between philosophy and literature in the work of some major contemporary Anglo-American thinkers.

Important Note: there is a substantial amount of reading demanded on this module. Alongside the philosophical texts of Plato, Murdoch, Nussbaum, Rorty, and Cavell, we will read, in their entirety, two novels (The Black Prince and Nineteen Eighty -Four), and two plays (Antigone and Othello).

The aims of this module are:

• To enable students to undertake a close assessment of the philosophical issues surrounding the relationship between philosophy and literature.


• To undertake a close reading of selected primary texts bearing on this issue.


• To develop the ability to produce argumentatively precise and robust critical analysis of philosophical and literary texts and ideas.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Articulate and critically evaluate the positions of some central Anglo-American thinkers on the relationship between philosophy and literature.


2. Engage in their own critical reflections on this issue.

Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:

1. Define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant.


2. Seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information.


3. Process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments.


4. Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.


5. Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.


6. Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.


7. Think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches.


8. Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.


9. Think critically and constructively.

Erasmus/IP students must have already taken an introductory module in Philosophy at their home institution.

It is suggested that students read at least Iris Murdoch's novel, The Black Prince (which is 400 pages) prior to the start of the module.

This module begins with the Platonic dialogue Meno, where Socrates raises the question of what kind of knowledge, if any, the divinely inspired poet has. We then turn to Iris Murdoch`s account of life as a `pilgrimage` from appearance to reality, which she claims is the concern of great art, and its treatment in her novel The Black Prince.

It will then examine Martha Nussbaum`s rejection of Murdoch`s notion of `the transcendent good` in favour of an `Aristotelian` understanding of the significance of life and her discussion of Greek tragedy in the light of this conception. Both Murdoch and Nussbaum maintain the centrality of literature in an inquiry into the truth of the human good. Richard Rorty, however, seeks to oppose such a conception of `truth` in favour of a conception of meaning as created through human dialogue and the consequent understanding of the individual as creating the meaning of her own life.

We shall look at the role of literature for such a `liberal ironist` and Rorty`s account of Orwell`s Nineteen Eighty-Four as an exemplification of there being no `truth` already written into the human condition. We will conclude with an examination of Stanley Cavell`s thesis of an intimate connection between modern philosophical scepticism and Shakespearean tragedy.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour seminar per week.
• One 1-hour presentation and discussion per week.

There will be a Reading Week.