UFH Department of Philosophy Undergraduate Courses

Purpose: To introduce the nature, methods, history and basic issues of the philosophical tradition

Contents: What is philosophy? Dialogical character of philosophy. Nature of philosophical questions and answers. Branches of philosophy. Variety of philosophical approaches. Some historical periods of philosophy. Why is philosophy important in post-colonial contexts?

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2 hour examination

Prerequisites: None

Purpose: To introduce Elementary Logic as one of the primary branches of philosophy and basis of all scientific thinking

Contents: The Argument (premises and conclusions, form and content, truth and validity, probability). Practical Logic: Material fallacies and Linguistic Fallacies. Formal Logic: standard form categorical syllogisms, Venn diagrammes, truth tables.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: None

Purpose: To introduce basic reasoning skills (Elementary Logic) and more specifically moral reasoning competencies (Ethics) essential to Legal Training.

Contents: The Nature of Logic, The Structure of Arguments, The Role of Language, Arguments and Non-arguments, Deductive and Inductive Arguments, Truth,Validity and Soundness, Fallacies, The Nature, Function and Need of Ethics, Core Ethical Issues, Comparison of Ethical Approaches, Applied Ethical  Problems.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 16

Assessment: Continuous assessment through short class tests and tutorial exercises

Summative Assessment:  2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: None

Purpose: To introduce the themes of Ancient Greek, African, Asian and South American philosophy and their relation to the development of contemporary issues in philosophy.

Contents: Classical problems such as matter and mind, truth, knowledge, morality, reason, community and identity will be discussed.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2 hour examination

Prerequisites: None

Purpose: To present Ethics as one of the major branches of the philosophical tradition, and demonstrate its use, relevance and significance for everyday life, as well as in select professions.

Contents:  Introduction to metaethics. Comparison of selected ethical theories (Virtue ethics, Deontology, Utilitarianism, African moral theories).  Applied ethical problems.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: None

Purpose: To introduce modern (Renaissance and Enlightenment) and contemporary theories of knowledge.

Contents: The historical context of Renaissance and Enlightenment philosophy and epistemology and its relation to contemporary epistemological problems: the sources, nature, and validity of knowledge, the justification of true beliefs, epistemic injustice.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL111/111E

Purpose: To introduce the development and themes of theories of human nature as core to the humanities and the sciences.

Contents: What does it mean to be human? Comparative analysis of some of the various views of human being from different times and cultures: such as in African, Asian, and Western thought.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2 – 3 hour examination

Purpose: To introduce Kant’s prolegomena to modern Metaphysics and contemporary problems of Metaphysics.

Contents: Kant’s critique of Metaphysics. Contemporary problems of Metaphysics: modality, space and time, the nature of knowledge, persistence and constitution, causation, freedom and determinism, the mental and the physical.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL123/123E

Purpose: To introduce the main aspects and trends of social and political philosophy.

Contents: Individualism and communalism. Liberty and Liberation. Justice and Injustice. Equality. Democracy. The social contract. Concepts of the State. Citizenship and rights.

Instruction:  Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 8

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 2-3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL124/124E

Purpose: To introduce the historical development, theories, and contextual significance of Philosophical Hermeneutics.

Contents: History of hermeneutics. Hermeneutical theories: Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Betti, Heidegger, Gadamer, Apel, Habermas. Ricoeur, Serequeberhan. Significance of hermeneutics within the context of literature, film, art, theology, and socio-cultural texts. Application of hermeneutics, for instance, to Liberation- and Black Theology and protest art.

Instruction:  Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 16

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL211/211E

Purpose: Overview and comparative analysis of the most influential trends in 20th century philosophy

Contents: Pragmatism. Phenomenology and Existentialism. Analytic philosophy. Critical Theory. African philosophy (capita selecta).

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 16

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL212/212E

Purpose: Analysis of the major issues in contemporary philosophy of science

Contents: Concepts of science. Critical reflection on the scientific method (Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend). Types of knowledge and epistemic norms. Indigenous knowledge and Western science. Status of the social sciences.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 16

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work, assignments

Summative Assessment: 3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL223/223E

Purpose: To introduce the main tenets, debates and schools that constitute present-day African philosophy.

Contents: Debate about the identity of African philosophy.  Trends and representatives in contemporary African philosophy.  Dialogue between western and African philosophies.  Significance of African philosophy. In-depth study of selected themes and authors.

Instruction: Lectures, self-study packets, tutorials

Credits: 16

Assessment: Continuous assessment through tests, group work and assignments

Summative Assessment: 3 hour examination

Prerequisites: PHL224/224E