Explore UCD

UCD Home >

PHIL41880

Academic Year 2024/2025

Reading Nietzsche (PHIL41880)

Subject:
Philosophy
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Philosophy
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor Brian O'Connor
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module will engage closely with several major works by Friedrich Nietzsche. Each year students work through two or three of his books from cover to cover. This year’s texts will be chosen from:
The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
Untimely Meditations (1876)
The Gay Science (1882)
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morality (1887)
Twilight of the Idols (1888)

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Students will have a comprehensive of several whole books by Nietzsche. They will engage with the detail of those texts, identifying unifying threads, main arguments and their implications for the philosophical tradition which Nietzsche is targeting. Students will be encouraged to develop their own independent assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the texts under analysis.

Indicative Module Content:

The falsity of morality
Nihilism
Rejection of metaphysics
Critique of humanism

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Autonomous Student Learning

226
Total

250

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Weekly seminar. The lecturer will outline the main themes of each week's text. Students will prepare by studying the same sections in advance of the class. Student presentations will also provide material for class discussions.

Generative AI should not be used in the preparation and writing of any assessed work.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Participation in Learning Activities: Each week (from week 2) one student will present a c. 1,000 word summary of part of a prescribed text. It will be printed for sharing with the class.

Commitment to attendance is assessed.
 Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale Yes
20
 Yes
Assignment(Including Essay): c. 2,000 word essay Week 7 Graded Yes
30
 Yes
Assignment(Including Essay): 3,500-4,000 word essay Week 14 Graded Yes
50
 Yes

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer 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?

Essays will be annotated with comments and suggestions

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 11:00 - 12:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.