PHIL20700 Introduction to the Philosophy of History

Academic Year 2020/2021

Introduction
This module will be of particular interest to students who believe that controversies about the past are tied to today’s political debates. For example, should we replace public monuments (statues) of individuals now perceived to have promoted an obnoxious ideology? Should we rename places and things that bear the names of what we now think of as controversial people? Or should we just leave everything as it is ‘in the name of our history and heritage’?

Key Issues
History, many people might say, is an account of the events of the past. And good history is supposed to be objective. Objective history just tells us about the things that happened and does not impose any ‘interpretation’, ‘point of view’, or ‘selective reading’ of past events.

This module explores the various ways in which the conventional idea of history is wrong. It will work with students on these ideas (among others):
• there is no such thing as ‘objectivity’ in history;
• the ‘past’ is ‘our’ account of it, and therefore history is tied to the present: to the work of the historian;
• history constructs simple stories to capture events that are too complex to be explained in any story;
• nothing in history (compared with nature) happens according to any law: hence the difficulty of saying that one thing ‘caused’ another in history;
• the past is past, and cannot be understood.

And yet the past – and indeed present – is filled with countless real cases of abominable human suffering, of innocent victims, and of horrific crimes. How do we do justice to those victims if we are sceptical about historical objectivity? This module will work towards an answer to that question too.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

Among the learning outcomes of his module are:
• a complex sense of what ‘history’ is
• knowledge of the different alternatives to the notion that history is ‘about the past’
• knowledge of the different alternatives to the notion that history is ‘objective’
• a perspective on how we should ‘deal with the past’ (i.e. morally)
• an independent perspective on whether history is even possible

Indicative Module Content:

This module explores the various ways in which the conventional idea of history is wrong. It will work with students on these ideas (among others):
• there is no such thing as ‘objectivity’ in history;
• the ‘past’ is ‘our’ account of it, and therefore history is tied to the present: to the work of the historian;
• history constructs simple stories to capture events that are too complex to be explained in any story;
• nothing in history (compared with nature) happens according to any law: hence the difficulty of saying that one thing ‘caused’ another in history;
• the past is past, and cannot be understood.

And yet the past – and indeed present – is filled with countless real cases of abominable human suffering, of innocent victims, and of horrific crimes. How do we do justice to those victims if we are sceptical about historical objectivity? This module will work towards an answer to that question too.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

20
Tutorial

7
Autonomous Student Learning

98
Total

125
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lecture in first class of each week, seminar in second class of each week.

Tutorial work independent of the lectures / seminars. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

No prior learning requirements.

This module will be most suitable for students who major subject is in Arts and Humanities or Social Science.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: A 2,000 word essay dealing with material covered in the first half of the module. Week 7 n/a Graded No

50
Essay: A 2,000 word essay dealing with material covered in the second half of the module. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

50

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Each essay will be returned with comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the work, with an explantion of the grade awarded.