Undergraduate Course: Metaphysics and Melancholy: Philosophy/Literature 1689-1764 (ENLI10081)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | English Literature |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Setting out from Locke's Essay, the course will chart the erosion of religion by a newly energised relationship between the philosophy of "ideas" and literature in the eighteenth century. Topics covered will include the context of Locke's Essay; the rise of a rhetoric of "imagination" in Addison and Akenside; the influence of Locke's political philosophy upon Defoe's Robinson Crusoe; the erasure of the division between "poetic" style and "philosophic" content in Hume; the ideology of the beautiful / sublime in Burke, Thomson and the "Gothic" sensibility of Walpole. One of the principal themes of the course will be the way in which empiricism fostered a culture of subjectivity which, while encouraging a heightened emphasis on imagination in literature, in many ways proves to be self-undermining. At the same time attention will focus on the way in which the apparently subversive and revolutionary implications of Locke's philosophy of matter and sensation came to find a home in Burke's conservative aesthetic, leaving the Romantics to tease out the political contradictions of eighteenth-century empiricism. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of three college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as civilisation or creative writing are not considered for admissions to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having three to four literature classes at grade A.
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| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| This course aims to extend students' knowledge of the relationship between philosophy and literature in Britain through a close examination of how these two disciplines influence each other during the last decade of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century. |
Assessment Information
1 essay of 2,500 words (25%);
1 examination paper of 2 hours (75%) |
Special Arrangements
| Numbers are limited to 15, with priority given to students taking degrees involving English or Scottish Literature and Visiting Students placed by the Admissions Office. Students not in these categories need the written approval of the Head of English Literature before enrolling. In the case of excess applications places will be decided by ballot. |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Tim Milnes
Tel: (0131 6)50 3615
Email: tim.milnes@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms June Haigh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3612
Email: j.haigh@ed.ac.uk |
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