Concepts of Critique: Kant and After module (PI32025)

This module covers concepts of ‘criticism’, ‘crisis’, and ‘critique’ which appear throughout our culture. You will explore what this entails philosophically, submitting concepts of ‘critique’ exploration and clarification.

The first half of the module is devoted to assessing the sense of critique emerging from Immanuel Kant's most famous text: The Critique of Pure Reason (1781/87). From here, the module branches out into a consideration of diverse fields and thinkers influenced by Kant’s concept of critique.

The fields we will explore (through a philosophical lens) include critical realism, critical race studies, critical gender studies, and critical legal theory. We will study the greatest thinkers in these areas and explore diverse viewpoints.

What you will learn

In this module you will: 

• closely engage with one of the most famous texts in European philosophy - Kant's The Critique of Pure Reason
• explore questions such as:
  • what does it mean to be ‘critical’?
  • what are the criteria for being a ‘good critic’?
  • what is the relationship between critique and ‘crisis’?
  • is critique good for us, or does it result in excessive suspicion which impairs our ability to meet the challenges of the contemporary world?
  • what, ultimately, is the difference between a critique and a conspiracy theory?
• blend the best aspects of both detailed engagement with a text (the first half of the module) and a broad survey of its consequences (the second half)
• learn to be critical and charitable to competing historical and contemporary philosophical approaches

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• articulate what concepts are, and why they matter in philosophy
• diffuse jargon through philosophical critique and argument patterning
• articulate differences and relations between complex branches of philosophy (e.g. metaphysics, logic, epistemology, ethics)
• articulate differences and relations between influential approaches in the history of philosophy (e.g. empiricism, rationalism, positivism, transcendental idealism)

Assignments / assessment

• textual commentary 1,500 words (30%)
• final essay 3,500 words (70%)

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

Teaching is conducted through:

• lectures
• tutorials
• one-to-one reading support