Course Catalogue

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In this course, we explore the diverse approaches to philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics that developed in traditions of Classical Indian Philosophy. The course will investigate how different thinkers in these traditions answered questions such as: "how do words and sentences relate to the world?"; "how can speakers understand sentences of a language that they haven't been explicitly taught?"; "how can context affect meaning?"; "what are the sources of knowledge?"; "how can language transmit knowledge from a speaker to audience?"; and "what is the difference between literal meaning and other sorts of meaning such as metaphor?". No prior knowledge of Indian Philosophy will be presupposed.

161 hour lectures; 41 hour seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in Philosophy and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Successful completion of Junior Honours Philosophy, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours Programmes.

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Long Essay 2000 words (50%)

Medium Essay 1500 words (40%)

Short Report 500 words (10%)

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to:

■ Introduce students to competing philosophies developed in various Classical Indian traditions through primary and secondary literature;

■ Encourage students to illustrate and apply these theories to examples that motivated the original work and to examples of relevance to the students' own lives; and

■ Encourage students to hone their analytical and critical skills by assessing and developing the arguments and positions from these traditions.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Describe and compare theories of language, knowledge, and reality developed in various traditions in Classical India, including traditions that treat certain religious texts, the Vedas, as authoritative, such as Nyāya and Mīmāṃsa and other traditions such as Buddhism.

■ Assess elements of the context in which these theories arose.

■ Apply these theories to examples of concern in the classical context and also in contemporary contexts.

■ Critically evaluate the arguments offered for and against these theories.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.