Bachelor of Arts (BA) - The University of Hong Kong

279PHIL2210.Metaphysics (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)This course covers both the nature of reality and the nature of knowledge of it and treats the twoquestions as intrinsically connected. We shall examine a number of important theories of metaphysics,as well as anti-metaphysics, including those of Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger,and contemporary philosophers such as Habermas, Rorty and Putnam. We will treat these theories notonly as representing different views on metaphysics but also as forming a logical order of development.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).PHIL2420.Chinese philosophy: metaphysics (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)We study Chinese views of reality, human nature, language, wisdom and the relation of each to humansociety. Our main texts will be Daoist texts from the classical period, but we shall also discussNeo-Daoism, Buddhism and Neo-Confucian metaphysics.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).PHIL2150.Philosophy and biology (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)Charles Darwin's theory of evolution had a huge impact on the way we think about mankind's place inthe world. In this course we will discuss some of the philosophical consequences of this impact. Noprevious knowledge of the theory is required as we will begin with a critical introduction to itsdevelopment and main features. Later in the course we will also consider the contemporary debateconcerning the scope and limits of evolutionary theory.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).PHIL2130.Philosophy of the sciences (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)If we want to find out about the world around us, we look to science to provide the answers to ourquestions. But why? What justifies our faith in this enterprise? In this course, we shall investigate tworelated questions. First, what is scientific method? We shall examine answers ranging from the rigidprescriptions of Popper to the anarchism of Feyerabend. Second, what reason do we have to think thatthe explanations provided by science are true? Here the answers range from optimism based on thesuccess of science, to pessimism based on our repeated rejection of past theories. Along the way, weshall critically consider notions such as progress, objectivity, and the difference between science andnon-science. We shall examine how philosophical questions arise in actual scientific practice. Whatexamples are selected for this purpose will, to some extent, be determined by the interests of students.Assessment: 100% coursework (may include in-class test).There are no prerequisites for this course.