This module is the first part of a two-part intellectual history course. It can be taken independently or in conjunction with part two (PHIL236 Modernity and Critical Thought 2: Modernity and its Discontents). In both modules, students are introduced to key names, ideas, and events within the history of modernity that are relevant to the study of philosophy, and to the humanities more broadly. This material will be introduced in ways that foreground its relevance to contemporary philosophical, political, and cultural concerns.
The module covers material from the late Renaissance to the early Nineteenth Century, and it focusses on the emergence, throughout that period, of differing intellectual and political challenges to seemingly fixed forms of normative authority. Centred around the theme of Enlightenment, it traces the development and interconnection of critical thought and forms of social change. It addresses figures and topics such as the Scientific Revolution, Spinoza, Kant, the French Revolution, romanticism, and Hegel. In doing so, it looks at the ways in which this material might help us to make sense of our current context; but it also asks whether these ideas may merit criticism when viewed from within that context. Concerns regarding ‘Eurocentrism’, the importance of decolonisation, and worries about patriarchal traditions are thereby incorporated into the module and used as lenses through which to address its content. The module’s goal is thus to introduce an influential tradition of critical thought, but to enable students to criticise and evaluate that tradition whilst doing so.
Assessment on this module has three components: assessed seminar participation (15%), a 2000-word essay (60%), and a 1000-word ‘wiki’ piece (25%).