BASS Sociology and Criminology

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This course is devoted to studying the empiricist philosophies of Locke, Berkeley and Hume, focusing on the core texts by each. The issues raised by these philosophers have been profoundly important in shaping the landscape of contemporary analytical philosophy and many of the problems they raised and addressed are as relevant to philosophy today as they were then. Questions about, for example, the possibility of innate ideas, the nature of perception, the existence of a reality independently of our minds, and the laws of nature, have all been handed down to us, in part, as a legacy of empiricism. 

The course will approach the subject both by examining the philosophical works of Locke, Berkeley and Hume, and by looking at the ways in which their insights and concerns have been inherited by current analytical philosophers.

The unit aims to:

— Help students gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of some of the central questions raised, and the positions taken, by the classical British empiricists; 

— Enable students to critically evaluate the positions taken and the arguments offered by Locke, Berkeley and Hume; 

— Enable students to appreciate the extent to which some of the central themes of modern analytical philosophy have their origins in the work of Locke, Berkeley and Hume; 

— Contribute towards giving students the requisite knowledge and analytical skills to tackle courses in modern analytical philosophy.

Lectures (20 hours): delivery of content 

Tutorials (10 hours): small group discussion will facilitate student engagement 

Office Hours: students will have access to the course convenor through regular office hours 

VLE: learning materials (reading lists, lecture slides, etc.) available online (asynchronous) 

Essay Plans: students will be encouraged to submit essay plans for formative feedback

-Identify the main philosophical questions arising in a variety of texts by British Empiricist Philosophers. 

-Clearly articulate empiricist philosophical claims.

Intellectual skills 

-Evaluate the claims and arguments of Locke, Berkeley and Hume 

-Relate empiricist philosophy to other areas of philosophical inquiry 

-Evaluate empiricist philosophy's lasting significance

-Interpret and criticise both primary and secondary texts.

-Undertake independent research and apply theoretical knowledge to complex issues

The School of Social Sciences (SoSS) is committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to students on their academic progress and achievement, thereby enabling students to reflect on their progress and plan their academic and skills development effectively. Students are reminded that feedback is necessarily responsive: only when a student has done a certain amount of work and approaches us with it at the appropriate fora is it possible for us to feed back on the student's work. The main forms of feedback on this course are written feedback responses to assessed essays and exam answers.

We also draw your attention to the variety of generic forms of feedback available to you on this as on all SoSS courses. These include: meeting the lecturer/tutor during their office hours; e-mailing questions to the lecturer/tutor; asking questions from the lecturer (before and after lecture); presenting a question on the discussion board on Blackboard; and obtaining feedback from your peers during tutorials.

The following reading list is indicative, and students are not required to read all of the publications listed. 

Primary Texts: 

-Locke, J. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. 

-Berkeley, G. Principles of Human Knowledge. Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. 

-Hume, D. A Treatise on Human Nature, book 1. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. 

Secondary Texts: 

-Woolhouse, R.S. The Empiricists, (OUP, 1998). 

-Bennett, J. Locke, Berkeley, Hume: Central Themes, (OUP, 1971). 

-Lowe, E.J. Locke on Human Understanding, (Routledge, 1995). 

-Mackie, J. L. Problems from Locke, (OUP, 1976). 

-Ayers, M. R. Locke, (Routledge, 1991). 

-Tipton, I. (ed.) Locke on Human Understanding, (OUP, 1977). 

-Chappell, V. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Locke, (CUP, 1994). 

-Grayling, A.C. Berkeley: The Central Arguments, (Duckworth, 1986). 

-Pitcher, G. Berkeley, (Routledge, 1977). 

-Tipton, I. Berkeley: The Philosophy of Immaterialism, (Thommes Press, 1994). 

-Stoneham, T. Berkeley’s World, (OUP, 2002). 

-Roberts, J.R. A Metaphysics for the Mob, (OUP, 2007). 

-Noonan, H. Hume on Knowledge, (Routledge, 1999). 

-Stroud, B. Hume, (Routledge, 1977). 

-Pears, D. Hume’s System: An Examination of the First Book of his Treatise, (OUP, 1990). 

-Fate Norton, D. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Hume, (CUP, 1993). 

-Millican, P. (ed.) Reading Hume on Human Understanding, (OUP, 2002).