2nd Year Assessed Essays 2009
Toby Aisbitt (0725529) / Aesthetics IIs the idea of a Heideggerian philosophy of contemporary art non-sensical? (2,500 words)
Aesthetics II
‘Photographic images are, in some sense, realistic’. Discuss the significance of this claim for the aesthetics of photography. (2,500 words)
Yusuf Atisen Zola (0603612) / Philosophy of Thought and Language I
Is the context principle consistent with the claim that our language is compositional? (2,500 words)
Judd Ball (0708315) / Ethics I
Can we justify moral theories by appealing to intuitions? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Religion
An assessment of the modal ontological argument.
Rebecca Ball (0605638) / Aesthetics I
Compare at least two commentators on the relation between free and dependent beauty. Say who you find most persuasive and why. (2,500 words)
Aesthetics II
Is the experience of viewing a digital photograph significantly different to viewing other types of photograph? What does this tell us about the aesthetic interest we take in photographs? (2,500 words)
Jonathan Beacher (0709814) / Ethics II
Is a consequentialist approach to beneficence too demanding? Justify your answer.
Christopher Brember (0730230) / Aesthetics I
Kant claims that through genius ‘nature gives the “rule” to art but not science. What does Kant mean by this and is he right to exclude science? (2,500 words)
Liam Bright (0720252) / Wittgenstein: Philosophical Investigations
Outline and critique the notion of ‘Seeing As’ found in the Philosophical Investigations. (5,000 words)
Ancient Philosophy
Is Diotima’s conception of eros in Plato’s “Symposium” compatible with Socrates’ conception of eros in the “Phaedrus”? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language I
Critically assess Nathan’s Salmon’s response to Freeze’s argument that proper names have sense as well as reference. (2,500 words)
Richard Brown (0710676) / Ethics I
Critically assess the claim that Kantian ethics offers more respect for moral integrity than utilitarianism. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Religion
What is the so called Hume Edwards objection? Is it cogent? (2,500 words)
Sam Burdock (0714915) / Aesthetics II
Is our aesthetic interest in photographs a distinctive kind of aesthetic response? (2,500 words)
Denise Chan (0706930)
Denise Chan (0706930) / Aesthetics I
What makes Kant’s aesthetic theory transcendental? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Explain Kant’s concept of the “good will” and discuss its role in Kant’s moral theory. (2,500 words)
Ancient Philosophy
Is Diotima’s account of eros in the Symposium ultimately egoistic? Is there textual evidence to
suggest that Plato agrees or disagrees with it? (2,500 words)
Wei Jean Cheah (0725576) / Philosophy of Mind I
Outline and assess why the opponents of functionalism might describe the theory as too liberal. (2,500 words)
Henry Cloke (0724902) / Philosophy of Thought and Language I
Do singular terms have a Fregean sense? (2,500 words)
20th Century Continental Philosophy I
An analysis of Sartre’s concept of Bad Faith and its relation to Self-Deception. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Religion
What is the so-called Hume-Edwards objection to the cosmological Argument? Is it cogent?
Darshan Cowles (0724355) / Philosophy of Religion
Is Tillich’s notion of ‘absolute concern’ an appropriate one for describing the essence of religion? (2,500words)
20th Century Continental Philosophy I
Explain and discuss Sartre’s notion of radical freedom.
Amari Dennis (0719691) / Aesthetics I
Why does Heidegger marginalise the artist in his account of how works of art came into being? Ishe entitled to? (2,500 words)
Puneet Dhaliwal (0703353) / Ethics I/ II
Do egalitarian concerns limit our capacity to respect moral autonomy? (5,000 words)
Safiya Dikko (0704713) / Ethics II
Explain and assess the objection of the ‘one vs the many’’ to Scanlon’s contractualism. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Social Science
Is normative rational choice theory self defeating? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Choose one of Kant’s four examples for the application of the categorical imperative and evaluate Kant’s argument with regard to this example. (2,500 words)
Olivia Evans (0716191) / Aesthetics I
Critically discuss two competing interpretations of §9: say which is more convincing and why. (2,500 words)
Steven Forshaw (07075310) / Wittgenstein
Should a Rationalist be worried by the private language argument? (2,500 words)
Foulkes, Eleanor (0716593) / Aesthetics I
Critically discuss two competing interpretations of §9: say which is more convincing and why.
Andre Friedli (0732384) / Ethics II
“So long as people have enough, does inequality matter”? (2,500 words)
Aesthetics II
“Why are photographs, more than other pictures, associated with notions such as loss, death and immortality? Should these associations play a role in the theory of photography? (2,500 words)
Emma Fry (0709912) / Twentieth Century Continental Philosophy I
Is Sartre justified in asserting only through consciousness is negativity brought into the world?
Philosophy of Mind I
Does the “Zombie” thought experiment provide a convincing challenge to the functionalist account of mental states? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Is the universalisability of maxims a plausible criterion for moral permissibility? (2,500 words)
Karandev Gautam (0700454) / Ethics I & II
Should punishment be justified on the grounds of forward-looking or backward-looking considerations? (5,000 words)
Philip Gaydon (0713462) / Ethics I
“To assure one’s own happiness is a duty” (Groundwork 4:399). Does this statement raise problems for Kant’s moral theory? (2,500 words)
Harvey George (0726052) / Aesthetics I
Critically assess Kant’s theory of the Sublime. (2,500 words)
Rory Grant (0700400) / Philosophy of Mind II
In what way is one’s knowledge of one’s own mind privileged? (2,500 words)
Laura Greenly (0706963) / Ethics II
“Is torture ever justifiable”? Discuss. (2,500 words)
Aesthetics II
Defend the claim that we can take an aesthetic interest in photographs qua photographs. (2,500 words)
Lorrraine Gunn (0702437) / Aesthetics I
In the exchange between Heidegger and Schapiro, who do you think is right and why? (2,500 words)
Aaron Harris (0709047) / Ethics I&II
Is dirty hands a widespread moral phenomena? If so, can it be justified on moral grounds? (5,000 words)
Ella Hashemi (0702282) / Ethics I
Discuss the relation between morality and freedom in Kant’s Groundwork. (2,500 words)
Joshua Haydon (0705441) / Philosophy of Mind I
Does Anomalous monism make the mental causally inert? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Is Ayer’s emotivism a descriptively correct and normatively attractive meta-ethical position? (2,500 words)
Joanna Honey (0721115) / Ethics I
“Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end never merely as a means to an end”. Discuss and assess. (2,500 words)
Toby Hopkins (0724509) / Ethics I
“Can morality be derived from reason?” Discuss with reference to Kant’s Groundwork. (2,500 words)
Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy II
“Poetically Man Dwells”. Discuss the relationship between poetry, language, and thought in the works of MH. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Science
Can any of the mainstream accounts of scientific explanation give sufficient criteria for what counts as a scientific case? (2,500 words)
Hannah Hubbard (0709222) / Ethics I
Give an account of the artificial virtues and their importance in Hume’s philosophy. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language I
What is Frege’s account of empty proper nouns, such as ‘Odysseus’? Is it correct? (2,500 words)
Olivia Hutchings (0700206) / Philosophy of Religion
How, according to Buber, does the I-thou relation differ from the I-it relation and is this distinction valid?. (2,500 words)
Ancient Philosophy
Why is the character of Diotima introduced in the Symposium? (2,500 words)
Natalia Janiec-Janicki (0708195) / Ethics I
‘The only way to justify punishment is if it will deter future crimes’. Discuss and assess (2,500 words)
David Jones (0710669) / Ethics II
“So long as people have enough, does inequality matter”? (2,500 words)
Ella Jones (0703734) / Aesthetics I
Kant claims that the question of whether pleasure precedes judgement or judgement precedes pleasure is the ‘key’ to the critique of taste. Why does Kant claim this and is his own answer to question convincing? (2,500 words)
Henry Jones (0731593) / Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy I
Discuss Sartre’s concept of bad faith. (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Religion
What is the so-called “Hume-Edwards” objection? Is it cogent? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Mind II
What are the epistemic grounds of our knowledge of other minds? (2,500 words)
Isabel Jones / Aesthetics I
Kant claims that through genius ‘nature gives the rule’ to art but not science. What does Kant mean by this and is he right to exclude science? (2,500 words)
Konrad Kennedy (0708998) / Ethics I
Does consequentialism fail to take account of the importance of individuals’ rights and duties? (2,500 words)
EthicsII
If punishment is justifiable, then it must be justified on the grounds that it will deter future crimes. Discuss and assess.
Leoni Kurt (0728105) / Philosophy of Mind I
Are there reasons to think we are directly aware of sense data, not material objects? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Assess Greene’s and Heidt’s claim that morality is based on emotions. (2,500 words)
Jack Lawson (0725044) / Aesthetics I
Critically discuss the notions of ‘world’ and ‘earth’ as they figure in Heidegger’s ‘The Origin of the Work of Art’. Consider at least one work of art in your answer. (2,500 words)
Douglas Linssen (0708022) / Philosophy of Social Science
What is the contribution of Evolutionary Game Theory to Social Ontology? (2,500 words)
Oliver Longworth (0724350) / Ethics I
“When we are conscious that an action is fit to be done, or that it ought to be done, it is not conceivable that we can remain uninfluenced, or want a motive to action” (Price, 1787). Is this true? (2,500 words)
Robert Mackenzie-Grieve (0701299) / Philosophy of Religion
What is the so-called “hume-Edwards” objection to the Cosmological Argument? Is it cogent? (2,500 words)
Anna Martindale (0716005) / Ethics I & II
Is consequentialism too demanding to be a plausible moral theory? (5,000 words)
Christopher Mattock (0726891) / Aesthetics I
What role does the ‘claim to universality’ play in Kant’s account and how should we understand it? (2,500 words)
Laura Maxwell-Bernier (0709100) / Ethics I
Discuss the relation between Hume’s artificial virtues and sympathy, and discuss their implications for his moral theory. (2,500 words)
Lauren McHugh (0709952) / Aesthetics I
How can a judgement of dependent beauty which, Kant claims, “presupposes a concept”, be characterised as a judgement of taste when he also claims such judgements “please universally without a concept”? Critically discuss. (2,500 words)
Hannah McIlwraith (0712618) / Wittgenstein
Does Wittgenstein provide a straight or sceptical solution to the rule following paradox? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Mind I
Do states of mind have effects in the physical world? If so, how is this compatible with a physicalist or a naturalist world view? (2,500 words)
Daniella McNulty (0719938) / Philosophy of Thought and Language I
Are ordinary names rigid designators and does a positive reply to this question require us to conclude that names are not definite descriptions? Does it require us to conclude that names cannot have a descriptive sense? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Mind I
What are qualia supposed to be, and is there any good reason to think they exist? (2,500 words)
Jessica Moore (0705681) / Philosophy of Thought and Language I
What is Freze’s argument for the claim that Proper names have sense as well as reference? Can the direct reference theory be defended from this argument? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
How, if at all, are consequences relevant for the moral evaluation of actions in a Kantian framework? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Religion
The subject/object distinction regarding intuition of the universe within Schleviemacher. (2,500)
Heenu Nihalani (0700111) / Ethics I/2
Does contractualism’s reliance on intuition imply that reasonable rejectability is doing insufficient justificatory work? (5,000 words)
Chimezir Nwagbara (0717381 / 20th Century Continental Philosophy I&II
‘Being with others or Being-for-others? A comparative study of Heidegger and Sartre on the problematic discussion of our rlation to others’. (5,000 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language I
‘Critically assess Kripke’s objections to the Description Theory of Proper names’. (2,500 words)
Francesca Nyman (0721396) / Aesthetics I
Are there problems with attempts to apply Kant’s theory of the sublime to works of art? (2,500 words)
Mayuri Parmar (0606676) / Ethics II
Is “Dirty Hands” a widespread moral phenomena? If so, can it be justified on moral grounds? (2,500 words)
Michael Perkins (0710478) / Philosophy of Mind I&II
Is externalism about perceptual content compatible with intentionalism? (5,000 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language I
Can we account for the intuitions behind Frege’s puzzle without committing to Fregean semantics for propositional attitude reports? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Is there a viable expressivist solution to the Frege-Geach problem?. (2,500 words)
Imogen Ranasinghe (0723925) / Aesthetics I
In what sense are art and technology related for Heidegger and in what sense opposed? (2,500 words)
Natasha Ricketts (0719548) / Ethics II
Should punishment be justified on the grounds of forward-looking or backward-looking considerations? (2,500 words)
Benjamin Rose (0721765) / Philosophy of Mind I
Are actions events that are caused by the mental states which rationalise them? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Evaluate Kant’s argument for the categorical imperative with regard to his example of the charity case. (2,500 words)
David Rutherford (0603587) / Ethics II
“Politicians have role obligations, and it is these that morally justify their ‘dirty hands’.” Discuss and assess. (2,500 words)
Nishaam Sharma (0706991) / Ethics II
“Under what circumstances, if any, is paternalism permissible? Justify.” (2,500 words)
Olivia Smith-Nicholls (0704203) / Ethics I
Consequentialism fails to respect individual rights. Discuss. (2,500 words)
Ethics II
“If killing is sometimes justified and legally permissible, then so is torture”. Discuss and assess. (2,500 words)
Jason Snow (0720927) / Aesthetics II
Is there an aesthetic aspect of surrealism that is distinctive to photography? (2,500 words)
Emily Talbot (0719831) / Aesthetics I
Compare at least two commentators on the relation between free and dependent beauty. Say who you find more persuasive and why. (2,500 words)
Kinjal Tanna (0709504) / Philosophy of Mind I
Does Davidson’s Anomalous Monism make the mortal causally inert? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language
Is the view that language is compositional plausible, considering Frege’s claim that “it is only in the context of a sentence that words have meaning (Dummet 1981).
Lev Taylor (0709207) / 20th Century Continental Philosophy I
A critical assessment of Sartre’s notion of bad faith. (2,500 words)
Ethics I/II
Can an unjust war be fought justly? (5,000 words)
Mannie Taur (0736405) / Ethics II
Should punishment be justified on the grounds of forward-looking or backward-looking consideration? (2,500 words)
Aesthetics II
Why are photographs, more than other pictures, associated with notions such as loss, death and immortality? Should these associations play a role in a theory of photography? (2,500 words)
20th Century Continental Philosophy I/II
Compare and assess Sartre and Heidegger’s notion of freedom. (5,000 words)
Charlotte Thomson (0712847) / Ethics II
“If punishment is justifiable, it must be justified on the basis of forward-looking considerations”. Discuss and assess. (2,500 words)
Cara Tully (0723140) / Philosophy of Mind I
Does the qualitative character of mental states present insuperable problems for physicalism? (2,500 words)
Ethics I
Are consequences the only criterion for evaluating actions? Discuss. (2,500 words)
20th Century Continental Philosophy I
‘Man is the being through whom nothingness comes to the world’. What does Sartre mean by his claim? Is it convincing? (2,500 words)
Raha Vaziri-Tabar (0721102) / Aesthetics I
Critically discuss the extent to which Heidegger’s use of the Van Gogh painting in ‘The Origin of the Work of Art’ supports his account of the ontological function of art. (2,500 words)
Kevin Wallbridge (0725104) / Philosophy of Mind I
Can functionalism account for the qualitative character of mental states? (2,500 words)
Philosophy of Mind II
Does Content Externalism provide a viable picture of Human Thought? (2,500 words)
Wittgenstein I
What model of the language barrier is at play in Wittgenstein’s arguments? (2,500 words)
Joshua Warden (07331931) / Aesthetics I
In what sense does our experience of the sublime demonstrate the supremacy of our rational nature, according to Kant? (2,500 words)
Jocelyn Yip (0725208) / Ethics II
‘If killing is sometimes justified and legally permissible, then so is torture’. Discuss and assess. (2,500 words)
Miriam Ziriat (0724186) / Philosophy of Mind II
(2,500 words)
Philosophy of Thought and Language I
‘What is Russell’s account of Definite Descriptions? What argument does he offer? Is Russell right? (2,500 words)