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PHI-10030 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

PHI-10030 - Philosophy as Reason and Wonder
Coordinator: Sophie Allen Tel: +44 1782 7 33364
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

This module opens your mind to philosophical questioning and gives you a logical toolbox to answer your new questions. You'll delve into core metaphysical and epistemological issues, emphasizing independent thought and philosophical relevance. Formal logical skills will be introduced, enhancing your academic and professional abilities. Additionally, you'll attend a Royal Institute of Philosophy session and report on it, offering an experiential learning opportunity that showcases philosophical debate in action.

Aims
This module opens students' minds to philosophical questioning and gives them a logical toolbox to answer their newly discovered questions. It introduces the core metaphysical and epistemological concerns of the discipline in a manner that emphasises wonder and the need for independent thought. It also introduces formal logical skills which will serve them well throughout their degree and beyond, when they enter the workplace, since an understanding of logic is perhaps the most important transferrable skill philosophy uniquely has to offer.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Explain the distinctive characteristics of philosophy as a discipline
: 3,4
Recognise, comprehend and describe some of the central problems of philosophy: 3,4
Recognise some of the main theoretical traditions in philosophy and illustrate their application to a variety of philosophical problems
: 3,4
Develop their own philosophical views and defend them using rational argument: 3,4
Recognise basic argument forms and apply the basic principles of deductive logic: 1,2
Recognise and apply reasoning skills essential for the proper presentation, analysis and criticism of arguments: 1,2,4
Identify and describe common fallacies and rhetorical devices: 1,2
Apply logical and critical thinking skills to philosophical problems, as well as to arguments encountered in everyday contexts
: 1,2

Study hours

20 hours lectures
28 hours seminars
92 hours preparation for seminars and seminar work
50 hours preparation for study routine report
35 hours preparation for group presentation report
60 hours preparation for general logic and critical thinking exercises
15 hours preparation for logical formalisation and proof exercises

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Open Book Assessment weighted 12%
Logical formalisation and proof exercises
Open book exercises in formal logic, with students given one week to complete them. Exercises will be set in Week 4 of teaching. Students will typically require 3 hours to complete these exercises.

2: Open Book Assessment weighted 38%
General logic and critical thinking exercises
Open book exercises (typically a set of 15 short exercises) which students are given one week to complete. Students will typically require 3 hours to complete these exercises.

3: Report weighted 25%
Report on group presentation
Students write a report on the group presentation they gave in the seminar and the subsequence student debate - 1000 words maximum. This is an individual report upon the work the student did within a group.

4: Project weighted 25%
Study routine portfolio
At the end of the semester's teaching, students submit a refined and succinct version their lecture notes on 8 of the lectures. Maximum 2000 words (250 words per lecture).

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025