HFIK00004U FILO Anvendt filosofi

MA course, Applied Philosophy, fall 2023

Phenomenology

The focus of the first part of the course will be on philosophical psychopathology and on how ideas from phenomenology can productively be used to better understand various psychiatric disorders. After a general presentation of the field of philosophical psychopathology (as an instance of applied philosophy of mind) and an initial discussion of what applied phenomenology might amount to, we will discuss some classical texts by Karl Jaspers, and then examine how phenomenological philosophy can be used to better understand disorders of selfhood, embodiment and intersubjectivity.

History of Philosophy (- 1900)

The focus of the second part of the course will be onenvironmental virtue ethics. The world’s environmental challenges have now been known for several decades. High-profile international institutions have called for action over the last years: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/) has warned against global warming and The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform of Biodiversity (https://ipbes.net/global-assessment) has reported the dramatic decline in biodiversity. Policy makers have typically focused on technological solutions and regulation to these environmental challenges. This makes sense, as far as more efficient and climate-friendly technologies and regulation can provide solutions within a variety of areas. However, in order to ensure sustainable, green transition, human behaviour also has to change, and in this context environmental virtue ethics (EVE) suggests a solution an urgent problem; how to overcome the gap between what we know we should do, in order to behave in a more climate-friendly manner, and what we actually do? EVE thus asks: Which motivations and character traits are in support of climate-friendly behaviour? This part of the course introduces recent contributions to environmental virtue ethics, which draw on Aristotle’s virtue ethics, and it applies these contributions to various cases from the on-going ecological crisis.

Practical philosophy

The third part of the course will feature an exemplification and discussion of conceptual engineering as a valuable form of applied philosophy. Conceptual engineering is a recent addition to the broad set of approaches and conceptual tools developed in analytical philosophy. Basically, conceptual engineering is a matter of rigorously constructing concepts that are better suited for our purposes, including epistemic and political purposes. Thus, the aim in conceptual engineering is not to analyze concepts or pronounce on the metaphysical nature of things, but to devise better concepts than those we currently use. In this sense conceptual engineering shares some ideas with constructivism (the idea that some of our concepts are socially constructed), yet it does not commit to philosophically implausible claims that reality is socially constructed. In the course, we will look at conceptual engineering applied to concepts of race, gender and to a variety of health concepts.

Exams. In the 2022 Philosophy Curriculum, the second term involves portfolio exams. Below are explained the two ways in which such a portfolio exam can be passed: either as ordinary participation (A) or as a participation with a teaching or presentation assignment (B).

A. Ordinary course participation Part 1: Questions are asked in all three parts of the course, with the student answering questions in two different parts. The student submits two assignments of 3-4 standard pages answering questions asked in two of the three parts of the course. One of the assignments can be further developed and used in the final exam paper. The course responsible sets three deadlines for submission (the last one must be at least 14 days before the last class). If student meets these deadlines, he or she will receive written feedback on his or her assignments. It is not compulsory to hand in the assignments before the deadline, but it is compulsory to hand in and have both answers approved in order to pass the exam. Part 2: No later than 14 days before the last class, the student must submit a problem statement, a 1-2 synopsis (1-2 standard pages, in prose) and a syllabus for the final examination paper to the examiner. All must be approved by the examiner for the student to pass the exam. Part 3: The student may submit a preliminary version of the final written exam paper of maximum 8 standard pages for written or oral feedback from the examiner, according to agreement between the student and the examiner. This must be done at least 14 days before the deadline for the final submission. The student loses the right to feedback if the deadline is not met, but it is not compulsory to hand in the provisional version. Part 4: Final exam: The student submits the final written exam paper of 11-15 standard pages (excluding bibliography).

B. Course participation with teaching or dissemination assignment Part 1: A teaching assignment consists of 2-6 hours of teaching with an external partner; a dissemination assignment consists of 5-15 hours of work with an external partner. An external partner is, for example, a secondary school, a college, an NGO, a public or private company or organisation. If a teaching or dissemination assignment is carried out, a form must be used indicating the external partner and providing evidence that the assignment took place between 1 February and 20 May. The agreement with an external partner must be sent to the course responsible by 15 April (please use the form). Part 2: The student sends a debriefing to the course responsible at the latest in the last week of the course. In the case of a teaching assignment, a debrief consists of 1/2-1 page description of the teaching assignment, the literature or theory reviewed, and brief pedagogical reflection. In the case of a dissemination assignment, a debriefing consists of 1/2-1 page description of the dissemination task, as well as a short reflection on the competences used. Part 3: The student may submit a preliminary version of the final written exam paper of maximum 8 standard pages for written or oral feedback from the examiner, according to agreement between the student and the examiner. This must be done at least 14 days before the deadline for the final submission. The student loses the right to feedback if the deadline is not met, but it is not compulsory to hand in the provisional version.

Part 4: The student submits a written exam paper of 11-15 standard pages (excluding bibliography)

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