Philosophy and moral philosophy

Teacher(s)

Roux Jeanne-Marie;

Language

French

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The course “Philosophy and moral philosophy” aims at giving law and political science students theoretical benchmarks and keys to comprenhension in order to enable them to find their way in the history of philosophy, understand its evolution and major issues and find the reflexive, conceptual and critical resources necessary to question not only some of the big challenges of our times, but also certain principles and notions they are being taught in other courses (freedom, justice, State, subject, responsibility, democracy, power, truth etc.) Four skills are being honed during classes and will be evaluated during the exam: 1) Mastery of concept and capacity to define the major philosophical notions 2) Comparison of the different types of philosophical thought through the analysis of the divergence and/or convergence of their respective arguments 3) Textual commentary allowing the interpretation of textual elements in the light of the notions and theory taught in class 4) Critical distantiation from the taught doctrines on the basis of a short essay developing one of the following points a) internal criticism of an author seen in class b) external criticism or c) practical application of a philosophical doctrine seen in class

Content

This course will, throughout the year, familiarize students with the apparent “strangeness” of philosophical questioning, with a dual objective. On one hand, it aims to make them aware that the thoughts of philosophers address questions inherent to every individual and have contributed to shaping our ways of thinking; we will strive to highlight how the “problems” faced by past philosophers, as well as the concepts developed to address them, can help us construct our own answers to the “problems” we encounter today. Thus, by focusing on the structure of argumentation (the problems it tackles, its conceptual assumptions, its logical mechanisms), this course is designed to train students in rigorous problematization and argumentation. On the other hand, this course will develop a general culture and skills particularly relevant for future lawyers and political scientists: through the analysis and comparison of classical and contemporary philosophers, our focus on philosophical texts as such will train students in careful reading and rigorous interpretation.
This course falls under general philosophy but is specifically intended for students in law and political science: it addresses issues of direct interest to legal and political scholars. To enable everyone to immediately experience the vitality of philosophy, the course will involve reflecting on the moral and political nature of human beings to examine the foundational concepts of legal and political thought: action, responsibility, freedom, autonomy, the good, the bad, justice, the purposes of politics, as well as the relationship between truth and justice...
To achieve this, we will undertake a selective journey through the history of philosophy, emphasizing some essential classical authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, and Kant, while also engaging with more contemporary references that inform today’s political and legal reflection (Philippa Foot, Simone de Beauvoir…). Each time, we will take the time to read certain texts by these authors and analyze their specific logic.

Teaching methods

Lecture.

Evaluation methods

Written examination.

Other information

For students in the Certificate in Philosophy and Citizenship Education, this course is worth 15 credits.

Bibliography

Faculty or entity

> DRTB