PHI- Core Seminar 1

Course goals

In the Core Seminar 1, the development of professional skills focuses on paper writing, literature research, presentation skills, and giving and responding to feedback.

The aims of the Core Seminar 1 are as follows:

1. to acquire an advanced understanding of the philosophical topic chosen for the semester, with special emphasis on integrating distinct philosophical perspectives;
2. to improve one’s skills in writing a philosophical paper, including the stages of research and revision;
3. to improve one’s skills in presenting research results in a symposium setting and responding to questions from the audience;
4. to draw on what has been learned in the course in engaging with current philosophical research projects;
5. to reflect on and improve one’s participation in seminar discussions, in providing feedback on the work of other students, and in presenting course readings to the class in a way that deepens other students understanding of the texts and generates a good seminar discussion.

Content

The Core Seminars are semester-long courses that combine an in-depth investigation of a philosophical topic with training in key skills and interaction with researchers from ongoing research projects. Staff from two different areas of philosophy co-teach the seminar on a topic that draws on their overlapping research interests, but from distinct approaches. 
In the Core Seminar 1, the development of professional skills focuses on paper writing, literature research, presentation skills, and giving and responding to feedback.

Theme for academic year 26-27 tba

Course Description for Core Seminar I from 2025-26:
Talk of ‘reasons’, ‘correct reasoning’, ‘rational requirements’ or a ‘faculty of reason’ is ubiquitous throughout philosophy and its history. But what’s all this talk about? Do philosophers across sub-disciplines and historical periods mean the same thing when they use these terms? And do reason, reasons, and rationality form a unified phenomenon at all? Or are there no inherent connections between reasons and rational requirements, reasons for belief and reasons for action, and between the rationality of individuals and that of groups? This course approaches these questions by bringing together perspectives from different areas, such as the philosophy of logic, (social) epistemology, (meta-)ethics, and critical theory.